Environmental groups are preparing legal action against a Trump administration plan that would open vast stretches of federal land to cattle ranching, warning the scheme could accelerate extinctions of wolves, grizzly bears, and other endangered species already teetering on the brink.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue, alleging the administration bypassed required wildlife reviews under the Endangered Species Act. The plan, formalized through a memorandum signed in March by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, would unlock up to 24 million acres for livestock grazing and calls for expanding access in parts of Grand Canyon National Park and other protected landscapes.
Andrea Zaccardi, the organization's carnivore conservation legal director, said the move amounts to a gift to agribusiness that will deepen an existing catastrophe. "Expanding grazing across 24 million more acres will make that devastation even worse and likely drive more animals and plants to extinction," she stated.
The ecological toll is already substantial. About half of 2,400 stream miles designated as endangered species habitat that the Center surveyed since 2017 show significant damage from livestock. Cattle strip vegetation that protects stream banks and keeps water temperatures stable, harming species like steelhead salmon. They also pollute waterways with waste and sediment, destroying critical vegetation that wildlife depends on for survival.
Livestock grazing ranks as the top threat to endangered animals and plants across the West, environmental advocates argue, exceeding the combined damage from logging and mining. Yet the industry generates minimal economic benefit: grazing on public lands accounts for just 2 percent of the nation's beef cattle production.
The plan's language reveals its orientation toward ranch interests. It includes provisions for "immersion and training programs" to familiarize federal employees with ranchers' perspectives while promising to "deregulate" and "streamline" grazing operations. The memorandum emphasizes maximizing "authorization of livestock use" with minimal discussion of rangeland environmental conditions.
Perhaps most troubling for predators is the plan's inevitable spark for conflict. Federal law allows the U.S. Wildlife Services to kill predators that threaten livestock at ranchers' request, even when those predators are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Hundreds of thousands of wolves, grizzlies, and other animals are lethally removed annually through this program, a practice some advocates have characterized as a "bloodbath."
Some of the lands targeted in the memorandum have not seen cattle for decades, meaning predator populations have likely reestablished themselves. Opening those areas to grazing would virtually guarantee conflict and lethal removal campaigns. "The likelihood of this increasing conflict with predators is extremely high," Zaccardi said.
Chandra Rosenthal, a western lands advocate with the nonprofit Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility, said the administration appears indifferent to the ecological price. "The Trump administration does not appear to care that commercial livestock grazing exacts an enormous toll on native ecosystems and wildlife throughout the American West," she said.
The memorandum also targets popular national monuments, including Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado, and Arizona's Sonoran Desert National Monument. The administration used emergency authority to fast-track grazing where it was previously prohibited.
The Center filed its legal notice without clear evidence of industry demand for the expansion. While isolated ranchers may have requested access to specific grazing allotments, no coordinated livestock industry push for the program has surfaced. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management declined to comment on the initiative.
The Trump administration has 60 days to respond to the notice of intent to sue. If officials do not address the environmental impact analysis requirement, the Center plans to seek a federal court order requiring the government to conduct the review mandated by the Endangered Species Act.
Author James Rodriguez: "This plan protects a livestock industry that barely registers in national beef production while gambling with species that cannot afford the bet."
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