SALEM, Ore. — Environmentalists are continuing their legal battle against grazing in a national forest in south central Oregon with a lawsuit over federal management of a 170,000-acre livestock allotment. This lawsuit accuses the U.S. Forest Service of unlawfully approving a 10-year grazing permit for the allotment despite “irreparable harm” to the threatened Oregon spotted frog and wetland plants and mollusks. However, the lawsuit says that grazing will be expanded into “exponentially more sensitive riparian areas” that were previously closed to livestock, which wasn’t properly analyzed in the Forest Service’s environmental analysis of the plans. The plaintiffs want a federal judge to overturn the Forest Service’s grazing plans and prohibit livestock from the allotment until the agency complies with federal laws. Earlier this year, a federal judge dissolved an injunction against grazing in the Chemult Pasture — a major portion of the Antelope allotment — after finding the Forest Service sufficiently supported its conclusion that Oregon spotted frogs won’t be harmed.

Source: National Post April 18, 2019 20:37 UTC