On June 4, a federal judge in Oregon granted Guardians’ and allies motion to block livestock grazing on public lands allotments near Burns, Oregon, during the month of June. The ruling stems from our lawsuit last month, in which we argued that former Interior Secretary Zinke illegally renewed grazing permits for Dwight and Steven Hammond, convicted arsonists who were previously denied grazing permit renewals in 2014. Zinke’s renewal bypassed required environmental review and public process.
The allotments contain important habitat for greater sage grouse and redband trout. Grazing on one of the allotments was scheduled to begin later this week. In June, newly hatched sage grouse are especially in need of forbs for nutrition and tall grasses for hiding from predators; livestock grazing removes these necessities.
“Starting grazing now will have serious ecological consequences that must be considered. Every other grazing permit is supposed to go through the environmental review process; Trump and his henchmen should not be allowed to constantly claim exceptions to that rule,” said Guardians’ Judi Brawer.
Read the press release.
