| Grazing allowable on Medicine Bow land -- federal appeals court |
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Grazing is allowable on Medicine Bow National Forest land in Wyoming
despite environmental group opposition, a federal appeals court ruled
yesterday.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed a January ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado that knocked down an appeal by the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, the Center for Native Ecosystems and Forest Guardians. The groups argued that cattle were causing high levels of fecal coliform bacteria in creeks in the forest's Pole Mountain section, thus violating the Clean Water Act. The Forest Service did not dispute that there were fecal coliform bacteria readings in the creeks above state limits, but the agency said it was using best management practices to address the high readings and therefore met Wyoming water quality requirements to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity. The environmental groups also argued that the Forest Service's analysis of Medicine Bow grazing's effects on the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, a protected species, was flawed. But the appeals court panel found that the analysis is proper (Billings Gazette, Dec. 18).
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