The Sonoran Desert National Monument is nearly 500,000 acres of desert landscape southwest of Phoenix. The Bureau of Land Management is considering whether to allow livestock grazing within parts of the monument, but conservation groups are speaking out in opposition.
The Western Watershed Project and the Sierra Club previously sued the BLM over grazing on the monument, and a District Court in 2016 ordered the agency to reevaluate the issue.
Now, the BLM is considering four alternatives. Ed Kender, Lower Sonoran field manager with the BLM, said the option that allows grazing throughout the portion of the monument north of Interstate 8 fits in with the BLM’s mission of managing land for multiple uses.
“The proposed action is the alternative that BLM through the analysis and public involvement has determined to be the best-case scenario," Kender said.
But conservation groups are once again saying expanded grazing in the area would threaten tortoises, saguaro cacti and other species. Sandy Bahr, with the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter, said cattle can trample the desert’s fragile crust.
“[That] causes more dust, it invites more invasive plant species, there are species of plants that you lose to livestock grazing,” Bahr said.
The BLM is taking public comments on the proposal through June 6.
