Measure to Ease Limits on Grazing

Habitat of Yosemite toad threatened under Feinstein bill.

by Michael Doyle - Bee Washington Bureau
Fresno Bee - June 2, 2003

A In a move that may be more political than realistic, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has introduced a bill permitting some Sierra Nevada ranchers to use their traditional grazing land despite U.S. Forest Service restrictions meant to protect vulnerable species like the Yosemite toad.

Fifteen grazing operations are specifically identified in Feinstein's bill. The legislation, which soon will be matched by a House bill introduced by Mariposa Republican George Radanovich, directs the Forest Service to find other options to displacing the ranchers.

The covered forests include the Sierra east of Fresno and south of Yosemite National Park, and the identified ranchers are those whom the Forest Service considers the most seriously affected by the environmental rules in question.

"We did what the Forest Service asked," said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for Democrat Feinstein, noting that the agency apparently lacks authority to grant such individual exemptions.

If other options like fencing can't work -- and Copperopolis rancher Steve Wooster said, "I don't know what other measures they can come up with" -- then the bill permits the ranchers to use the environmentally sensitive land this summer.

This is where tensions could arise. Because while cattle need the meadows, so do the Yosemite toads that favor elevations between 8,000 and 10,000 feet.

"Grazing these meadows in the summertime does have detrimental impacts on the toad," noted Robert Stack, executive director of the Angels Camp-based Jumping Frog Research Institute. "And as such, certain grazing allotments may have to be restricted, reduced or even retired."

Ideally, Stack said, a "comprehensive solution" will be sought; perhaps, he suggested, one where ranchers are offered replacement grazing allotments for every one they lose due to Yosemite toad or willow flycatcher protections.

"The toad shouldn't lose, but neither should the rancher," Stack said.

The toad's population has fallen by half from its historic levels, according to one study. Both the toad and willow flycatcher are sensitive species that officials hope to protect through Sierra Nevada management planning.

Within days, the Forest Service will make public its latest revised plan for managing 11 national forests spanning the mountain range.

The last Sierra Nevada management plan, issued at the end of the Clinton administration, would have cut grazing on the region's national forests by about 20%. More than 200 appeals resulted.

"For many ranchers, this would be the straw that breaks the camel's back," said Ben Higgins, executive vice president of the California Cattlemen's Association.

The new proposed rules coming under the Bush administration's imprimatur are expected to ease some restrictions. A preliminary Forest Service review this year, for instance, said scientists now "question the extent to which further restrictions on grazing will have any effect" on the Yosemite toad's ability to recover from other, more serious problems.

At the same time, the Fish and Wildlife Service says the amphibian is so vulnerable that protection under the Endangered Species Act would be "warranted" if resources allowed.

Any new grazing rules would be subject to a 90-day public comment period. That leaves ranchers still facing the existing tougher standards for this summer.

Still, says Nancy Whittle, past president of the Calaveras-Tuolumne Cattlemen's Association, "at least they recognize that there has been a problem."