Cows in the Marble Mountain Wilderness?

Those of you who spend time in Wilderness Areas in northern California may be all too familiar with the experience of walking on beautiful, remote trails only to step in cow dung or come upon a herd of cattle grazing in a high-elevation wildflower meadow around sensitive creeks. Some of you may be surprised to learn that Wilderness Areas are used to subsidize cattle operations that can harm water quality, aquatic habitat, rare plant populations and recreational resources. There may be appropriate places to graze cattle, but the beautiful cirque lakes and meadows in the Marble Mountains are not among them.

Cattle grazing in the Marble Mountains is an inappropriate use of public lands.  There are currently eleven (11) grazing allotments within the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area and we are encouraging the Forest Service to retire them. Two (2) of these allotments are currently under review and open for public comment. Four (4) of these allotments have recently been "categorically excluded," which means that they are not available for public comment.

Click here to see a map of the Marble Mountain Wilderness grazing allotments.

Please take a few minutes to write a letter to the Forest Service and ask that they 1) retire the Kidder Creek and Shackleford Allotments located in the Marble Mountains Wilderness Area and 2) allow the public to comment on the impacts of the Little North Fork, Big Meadows, Shelley Meadows and Big Ridge Allotments. Please use the sample letter below, and personalize it as you like.

For more information on public lands grazing, visit the national Public Lands Grazing Campaign website.

SAMPLE LETTER

Ray Haupt
Salmon/Scott River Ranger District
11263 N. Highway 3
Fort Jones, CA 96027
comments-pacificsouthwest-klamath-scott-river@fs.fed.us

RE: Kidder Creek and Shackleford Allotments Livestock Grazing Management Environmental Assessment

Dear Mr. Haupt,

I am writing to you about my concern over the continued grazing of the Kidder Creek and Shackleford Allotments located in the Marble Mountains Wilderness Area.

I use and enjoy the Marble Mountains Wilderness. The mitigation for recreational conflicts that you suggest in the EA – that the Forest Service will warn visitors that livestock are present in the Wilderness and suggest they go elsewhere – is not an appropriate strategy.

The Kidder Creek Allotment has a significant impact on the wilderness meadows, as this allotment has consistently exceeded Forest Plan utilization standards. The allotment has been out of compliance and a concern to the Forest for decades. Long term and irrevocable damage has occurred. The Forest needs to permanently retire this allotment and work on restoring the meadows, streams and lakes in the Kidder Creek Watershed.

The Shackleford Allotment is plagued by similar problems as the Kidder Allotment, and the Forest Service needs to aggressively address these issues. Rare plants, fish habitat, recreation and other resource values are at-risk from this allotment. The Forest Service needs to do more than implement an “adaptive management strategy” to try and mitigate the damage that cows are doing in the Shackleford Watershed. Drastic reductions or removal of cattle is needed to protect fish habitat, rare plants and other resource values.

Lastly, I also have many concerns over other grazing allotments in the Marble Wilderness. I understand that you excluded from public comments several allotments, such as the Little North Fork, Big Meadows, Shelley Meadows and Big Ridge Allotments. As you should know, grazing cattle in high elevation meadows and cirque basins in designated Wilderness creates conflicts with recreational use of these scenic, primitive areas. Grazing also impacts aquatic habitats and can harm downstream fish populations. Numerous other impacts are associated with these publicly excluded allotments. I hope the Forest Service reconsiders these allotments and analyzes their impacts in an EA.

Thank you for the chance to comment. Please keep me informed about this and any other allotment in the Marble Mountains Wilderness Area.

Sincerely,