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January 11, 2011
AGREEMENT
PROTECTS CARRIZO PLAIN FROM SEVERE OVERGRAZING
Livestock Will Be Removed from
Ecological Reserve;
State of California Will Complete Land Management Plan
San Luis Obispo County, Calif. – Conservation groups, the State
of California, and a livestock operator finalized a formal
agreement last week that will protect the 30,000-acre Carrizo
Plain Ecological Reserve from severe livestock overgrazing. The
legal agreement mandates removal of all livestock from the
Reserve until environmental studies are completed, and calls for
the preparation of a long-term management plan for the Reserve,
which is located between the Los Padres National Forest and the
Carrizo Plain National Monument in southeastern San Luis Obispo
County.
Overgrazed area (left)
and ungrazed area (right) on the
Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, October 2009.
The
agreement resolves a lawsuit filed in February 2010 by Los
Padres ForestWatch and the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra
Club. The suit was brought after visitors to the Reserve
witnessed and reported excessive livestock grazing and severe
environmental damage. In some areas of the Reserve, improperly
managed livestock had removed nearly all vegetation from
hundreds of acres of wildlife habitat, trampled natural springs,
and caused terracing and severe erosion on hillsides. In
addition, fences were in disrepair, allowing livestock to enter
areas specifically off-limits to grazing.
“We’re
pleased that all parties could come together and agree on an
approach that will best protect Reserve lands,” said Jeff Kuyper,
executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch, a nonprofit land
conservation organization based in Santa Barbara that works to
protect the Los Padres National Forest and the Carrizo Plain.
“This agreement will protect the Reserve from additional damage,
while setting in motion a process to guide the long-term
restoration of these critically important lands.”
The
lawsuit alleged that these improper grazing practices violated
the terms and conditions of a grazing lease issued to Dr. Neal
Dow of Prineville, Oregon. The California Department of Fish and
Game (CDFG) – the agency charged with managing the Reserve –
issued the lease in 2006, and renewed it in 2009, allowing Dr.
Dow to graze 3,600 cows on the Reserve each year through 2012.
The Department issued and renewed the lease without notifying
the public or preparing any environmental studies, as required
by the California Environmental Quality Act. The lawsuit also
alleged that the CDFG violated state law by failing to prepare a
legally-mandated management plan for the Reserve.
Under the
terms of the legal agreement, which was approved by the Superior
Court in San Francisco last week, the Department agreed to take
the following steps to protect the Reserve:
-
The
CDFG will immediately give notice to Dr. Dow terminating the
grazing lease. The termination is effective in 90 days, and
under the terms of the lease, Dr. Dow is given an additional
90 days to completely remove his livestock from the Reserve.
-
Before
any new grazing lease is issued for the Reserve, the CDFG
will prepare an Initial Study under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and will use that study to
determine whether to prepare a more detailed Environmental
Impact Report. The Initial Study will be released for public
review and comment.
-
The
Department agreed to not allow any livestock grazing on the
Reserve until the CEQA process is complete.
-
The
Department agreed to make a good faith effort to prepare a
draft Land Management Plan for the Reserve by August 2011
and a final plan by March 2012.
Grazed area on the
Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, October 2009
"The
Department of Fish and Game was entrusted with the care of this
land by the people of California,” said Andrew Christie,
director of the Sierra Club’s Santa Lucia Chapter. "They
couldn’t be allowed to circumvent the law in order to permit a
destructive practice in an ecological reserve."
The
Reserve includes more than 30,000 acres of ecologically
sensitive habitat linking the Los Padres National Forest and the
Carrizo Plain National Monument. The State of California
established the Reserve in 2002 and expanded it in 2004 with
$12.7 million in wildlife and clean water funds approved by
voters. The Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and
Beach Protection Fund of 2002 (commonly known as Proposition 50)
authorized the sale of bonds “to protect regional water quality,
protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, and to assist
local public agencies in improving regional water supply
reliability.” A portion of the funds used to acquire and expand
the Reserve also came from the Habitat Conservation Fund, which
was established for the “acquisition of habitat to protect rare,
endangered, threatened, or fully protected species.” In applying
for funds in 2004, the CDFG stated that the proposed use of the
acquired lands would be for the “[p]rotection and preservation
of wildlife habitat.”
The
Reserve contains rare blue oak woodlands and native grasslands
as well as some of the region’s only populations of Tule elk and
pronghorn antelope. The Reserve also provides habitat for at
least 58 threatened, endangered, and other protected species including
burrowing owl, San Joaquin kit fox, southwestern pond turtle,
California red-legged frog, grasshopper sparrow, and tri-colored
blackbird.
The
lawsuit – Los Padres ForestWatch et al. v. California
Department of Fish & Game – and subsequent settlement
agreement were filed in Superior Court in San Francisco.
Plaintiffs Los Padres ForestWatch and Sierra Club were
represented by attorneys Sharon Duggan of Oakland and Michael
Graf of El Cerrito.
Fence in disrepair, allowing
cattle to graze in prohibited areas
Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, October 2009
Shrubs grazed and trampled on a
hillside,
Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, October 2009
Natural spring trampled by
livestock
Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve, October 2009 |
