The Bureau of Land Management has proposed a new plan limiting livestock grazing in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert National Monument after more than a decade of federal court decisions that rejected previous proposals.
That plan, however, is drawing early criticism from one group, which said no grazing should be allowed.
BLM released Friday a new grazing plan that would reduce the number of cattle allowed to graze in the national monument, and no grazing would be allowed until BLM completes site-specific analysis of each proposed allotment.
The “ephemeral use only” option that is the “preferred alternative” focuses on allowing cattle to access the grazing allotments after heavy rains, which prompt greater vegetation growth and thus more grass for the cows to eat.
