‘Wildlife Under Hoof’ blasts ranching on public lands

RENO -- Conservationists say in a new report that livestock grazing poses a threat to fish and wildlife across more than three-fourths of their dwindling habitat on federal land in the West.

That includes practically all of the remaining habitat of the Greater sage grouse, a hen-sized game bird the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering adding to the list of threatened or endangered species in 11 Western states from California to Wyoming, according to the report by WildEarth Guardians.

Using satellite mapping and federal records, the environmental group last year began a study matching wildlife habitat and U.S. grazing allotments across more than 260 million acres of federal land in the West.

"The results confirm -- in graphic form -- previous research finding that incessant, ubiquitous public lands grazing has contributed to the decline of native wildlife," concludes the report, titled "Western Wildlife Under Hoof."

Cattle and sheep trample vegetation, damage soil, spread invasive weeds, spoil water and deprive native wildlife of forage, the report said.

Jeff Eisenberg, director of federal lands for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, criticized the findings as an effort to shut down grazing on federal lands.

"There's a number of environmental groups that have decided the best way to spend their time and the money of their funders is to eliminate the families and communities that have made the West what it is today," he said in an e-mail.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife shares concerns about dwindling wildlife populations but thinks a place exists for grazing on public land, spokesman Chris Healy said.

If ranchers end up selling their land, it could be subdivided and lead to development, he said.

"If one sector or user of the land feels like they are being ganged up on, the odds of coming up with a solution that will work are not good," he said.