Cattle Grazing in Sonoran Desert Needs New Look, Judge Rules

The US Bureau of Land Management didn’t adequately analyze the effects of its decision to allow livestock grazing in portions of Sonoran Desert National Monument, a federal judge in Arizona ruled, remanding the decision to the agency.

The BLM acknowledged that grazing would harm plants, multiple wildlife species, and cultural resources, but said that it would rely on measures like fencing water sources and redistributing cows to mitigate those effects. Western Watersheds Project and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club sued, claiming that the agency didn’t show that those measures would reduce grazing impacts.

Judge Susan R. Bolton ...