The Bureau of Land Management has failed to assess the rangeland health of most livestock grazing allotments, resulting in overgrazing that is degrading potentially millions of acres of federal lands, a coalition of environmental groups claims in a new federal lawsuit.
What’s more, the Interior Department has failed to adhere to mandates in the National Environmental Policy Act to prioritize land-health analysis of grazing allotments “based on the environmental significance of the allotment or permit,” according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of the Western Watersheds Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.