San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area Grazing

August 1, 2022 — Advocates for the West filed a settlement agreement sending the Bureau of Land Management back to its planning desk to reconsider the impacts of livestock grazing on the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.

The settlement compels the Bureau to reconsider the compatibility of grazing authorizations on four allotments within the San Pedro Riparian NCA within 8 months; to evaluate whether livestock grazing is actually ‘conserving, protecting, and enhancing’ the values the designation is meant to protect; to examine impacts to Huachuca water umbel, southwestern willow flycatcher, desert pupfish, Gila topminnow, northern Mexican gartersnake, yellow-billed cuckoo, and Arizona eryngo; and to take action to address ongoing trespass and unauthorized livestock use in the areas that are closed to grazing.

April 7, 2020 — Advocates for the West filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on behalf of Western Watersheds Project and Center for Biological Diversity for the agency’s failure to protect the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (RNCA) from damage caused by livestock grazing. The BLM’s 2019 management plan sanctioned  destructive levels of livestock grazing on protected lands, putting the area’s remarkable resources at risk.

The San Pedro RNCA – the nation’s first riparian National Conservation Area – was created by Congress in 1988 and BLM was given a mandate to “Conserve, Protect, and Enhance” the unique values it encompasses. The RNCA includes more than 46 miles of the San Pedro and Babocomari rivers, and nearly 55,000 acres of riparian areas and uplands, including four of the rarest habitat types in the Southwest (cottonwood/willow forests, marshlands, grasslands, and mesquite bosques). More than 400 birds, 50 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 80 species of mammals are found in the RNCA, making this area a world-renowned biodiversity hotspot.