Burnt Creek Grazing Allotment

July of 2010 — The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho agreed that BLM’s new decision failed to take account of the wilderness values of the Burnt Creek Wilderness Study Area, and declared it to be in violation of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

We’ve received a victory in our challenge of a BLM grazing plan for the Burnt Creek allotment, located within the Pahsimeroi Valley’s Burnt Creek Wilderness Study Area!  This stunning area is located in the shadow of Borah Peak in the rugged Lost River Range.

On behalf of Western Watersheds Project, Advocates challenged a BLM environmental analysis and decision to reissue a 10-year grazing permit on this allotment, arguing that BLM had failed to analyze impacts of the proposed grazing and fencing on the wilderness values of the Wilderness Study Area.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho agreed, overturning the decision and explaining that the “environmental analysis fails to address whether the wilderness values of the Burnt Creek WSA . . . will be impaired by (1) the BLM’s decision to allow grazing on this allotment, and (2) the cumulative effects of this decision and other grazing permitted across the entire Burnt Creek WSA.”  The full decision is linked below.

The Burnt Creek allotment is located in the Upper Pahsimeroi watershed, which is occupied by bull trout and sage grouse; and extends over much of the Burnt Creek Wilderness Study Area.

Our prior litigation in 2002-03 forced BLM to close the allotment to grazing for 4 years, although repeated livestock “trespass” occurred during that time, continuing to harm bull trout habitat.

This latest case challenges BLM’s decision to reopen the allotment to grazing despite the past management failures and legal violations; and threatens to impair Wilderness values while harming bull trout and sage grouse.