Conservation group criticizes BLM fire plan for ignoring grazing

By ignoring the effect that livestock grazing has on the spread of cheatgrass, a rangeland fire-management plan released by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday will not adequately protect sage grouse habitat, Hailey-based conservation organization Western Watersheds Project contends. The plan states that increasing livestock grazing at the proper seasons and locations can help reduce fine fuels, and suggests that the department provide technical support and incentives for ranchers to work with federal and state partners to implement targeted fuel treatments. However, nowhere does the plan suggest that livestock grazing be reduced. “Science shows that ungrazed lands are more resilient to devastating large-scale fires,” said Ken Cole, Western Watersheds Project’s National Environmental Policy Act coordinator. “The land management agencies can sink all of the hundreds of millions of dollars into this strategy, but none of it will have any effect until land managers address the destruction caused by the sacred cows.” Cole said the Department of Interior should pay ranchers to retire grazing permits...more