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Contact Daniel Patterson in Idyllwild,CA at (909) 659-6053 or dpatterson@biologicaldiversity.org to adopt a Mojave or Sonoran Desert allotment. Contact your local Sierra Club chapter at http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ and ask about their public lands grazing committee. One of the most effective ways you can help protect and restore our Southwest Deserts is to "Adopt a Grazing Allotment." A grazing allotment is a parcel of public land, either Bureau of Land Management (BLM), or Forest Service (FS), that a rancher has leased from the above agencies. The rancher must develop an agreement with the agency, called the grazing Allotment Management Plan (AMP), to determine how many head of livestock (s)he may graze on the land, where they can go, how often and for how long. The goal of the AMP is to ensure the health and sustainable use of our public lands. However, this goal is not always realized. Frequently the livestock are kept in areas of the desert too long, causing degradation of the vegetation, streams, watersheds, soils, etc., or they may wander into an area closed to grazing. This is where YOU can help. The FS and BLM do not have enough staff to monitor what's actually happening on our public lands. By becoming familiar with a particular area (perhaps one of your favorite places) and getting familiar with the grazing Allotment Management Plan, you can alert the FS or BLM when damage is occurring, and therefore prevent more damage from occurring. You must first choose a place where you know or suspect livestock are grazing on public lands (most BLM lands or lower elevation FS lands in the Southwest). Contact the management agency. Talk to the agency and get to know the Range Conservationist, the person in charge of the grazing program. Get a copy of the grazing Allotment Management Plan and start visiting the area. |
Be sure to take pictures and document any problems you see such as erosion, stream bank trampling, loss of vegetation along the streams or on the hillside, too much bare dirt or gullies. Reveal your findings to the agency and make sure the agency is managing the allotment according to the grazing Allotment Management Plan. Getting involved in the management and protection of our public land is your right as a citizen of the United States. The public lands belong to all of us. Through the National Environmental Policy Act, passed by Congress in 1970, you can comment on grazing programs and allotments. Call the agency and ask them to list you as an "interested public" for all allotments you are interested in. You'll soon receive agency information pertaining to the allotments. NEPA requires that federal agencies (like the BLM and FS) conduct environmental analyses of their actions if it significantly affects the human environment. It also requires that the public be notified of these actions and be allowed to review and comment on these actions. Allowing livestock to graze on public lands is one such action that is subject to the NEPA process. Most people don't realize that our public lands have been altered by years of grazing, and its appearance is not natural. To learn more about your area so you can determine if it is being damaged by livestock grazing, and to learn what a healthy, functioning desert should look like, contact your local Sierra Club Group or the Center for Biological Diversity. We have a public lands grazing committee that you can get involved with. Find out what animal species should occur in your area and see if you can find signs that they are still there (don?t disturb them, though!). Visit the links on this site to learn more about the Southwest Deserts and livestock grazing in general. The more you know, the better prepared you will be to help us protect and restore our deserts. |
A project of the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity
Read the Sierra Club's public lands grazing policy | Read the Center for Biological Diversity's public lands grazing policy
Website developed and maintained by Dylan Edwards - www.dylane.net