Forest Service Limits on Cattle Grazing in Montana Forest Upheld

摘要

The U.S. Forest Service properly applied standards for protecting stream habitats to cattle-grazing permits, the Ninth Circuit said Thursday in a reversal of the lower court’s ruling.R Bar N Ranch LLC, 2-Bar Ranch Ltd. Partnership, and Broken Circle Ranch Co. hold or held grazing permits on the Dry Cottonwood Allotment, which is part of the Beaverhead-DeerlodgeNational Forest in Montana.The Forest Service issued a new forest plan in 2009, and it included new grazing standards for upland range utilization, winter range, and riparian sites on streams that support vulnerablefish species. However, the agency continued to apply 1995 riparian mitigation measures to the Dry Cottonwood Allotment.The “plain language of the 2009 Forest Plan supports the Service’s application of the 1995 Riparian Mitigation Measures,” the court said.