Cattle Grazing Approved Without Studies, Oversight, Suit Says

The US Fish and Wildlife Service authorized commercial cattle grazing on a Montana wildlife refuge without completing long-promised monitoring studies or determining whether grazing was necessary to benefit wildlife, two conservation groups said in a federal suit.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project, seeks an order declaring the 2023 grazing approvals unlawful and vacating them. The groups also want FWS to complete an environmental impact statement before authorizing grazing at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

“As with all national wildlife refuges, FWS must manage Red Rock Lakes NWR for the primary purpose of ...