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| Cattle trample delicate plants, soils, and streambanks, contaminate waterways with fecal waste, and remove native vegetation from rivers; once-lush streamsides and riparian forests have become nothing more than flat, dry wastelands after decades upon decades of grazing. Numerous species have been driven to the brink of extinction; predators like the grizzly and Mexican Gray Wolf were driven extinct in the Southwest largely because of mass killings by the livestock industry. | ||||
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| Mojave desert allotment reduced to a "moonscape." In November of 1991 the U.S. GAO published a rangeland management document entitled "BLM's Hot Desert Grazing Program Merits Reconsideration." In this report the GAO states; Current livestock grazing activity on BLM allotments in hot desert areas risks long-term environmental damage while not generating grazing fee revenues sufficient to provide for adequate management. GAO found that BLM lacks the staff resources needed to collect and evaluate date measuring the impact of livestock grazing on many desert allotments. Without these data, BLM is not in a position to assess livestock usage of desert allotments and change usage as needed. |  photo by Daniel Patterson |
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| The Mojave is a hellish environment for livestock. Many breeds originate from the wetlands of SE Asia and fare poorly in a dry, hot desert. Additionally, the handling and transportation of livestock poses serious threats to their health. |  photo by Daniel Patterson |
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| Cattle directly impact desert tortoise habitat by trampling burrows and competing for food. The desert tortoise has been at the epicenter of the Center for Biological Diversity's campaign to save the California Desert Conservation Area from livestock grazing, road proliferation, mining, inappropriate off road vehicle use and other desert abuses. A series of legal actions brought against the BLM and the National Park Service has resulted in the banning and limitation of livestock on millions of acres of tortoise habitat, and the closure of 4,500 miles of roads. |  photo by Daniel Patterson |
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The mojave has the potential to be a lush paradise of greenery when cattle grazing is excluded. |
 photo by Daniel Patterson |
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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