TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed notice of intent to sue the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over unauthorized cattle grazing damage to endangered wildlife habitat in southern Arizona’s Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.
“Our legal action aims to force federal officials to follow the law and protect our rare and treasured desert ecosystems,” said Chris Bugbee, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center. “Endangered birds, fish and other animals desperately need these wild places. The sensitive habitats that Las Cienegas was created to protect are being trashed, not just by cows but also by federal incompetence.”
Field surveys by Center biologists in 2025 found cattle causing moderate or significant damage along 78% of critical habitat stream miles in the conservation area, including where cattle are not allowed.
Congress created Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in 2000 to protect and restore nationally important riparian areas and biodiversity, while allowing livestock grazing only in “appropriate areas.”
Cows devastate streamside habitats, trampling banks and streambeds, stripping vegetation to bare soil, blocking tree regeneration, and polluting water with feces, urine, sediment and cattle carcasses. Field surveys found most of the damage occurred in streamside areas where grazing is prohibited.
“Twenty-four years ago, federal officials promised to protect these streamside habitats and the endangered species that depend on them from cattle. Today those protections exist only on paper,” said Bugbee. “Our public lands are being treated like discount feedlots, where endangered species have to compete with cows for dwindling water and habitat. It’s time for the government to enforce its own rules and keep cows out of these lifegiving ecosystems.”
Endangered species named in today’s notice include northern Mexican garter snakes, Western yellow-billed cuckoo, southwestern willow flycatcher, Chiricahua leopard frog, Gila chub and Gila topminnow.
The notice provides federal agencies 60 days to correct legal violations to avoid Center litigation.
Livestock grazing is a leading cause of species endangerment, biodiversity loss and riparian ecosystem degradation in the Southwest. In Arizona riparian areas cover less than 1% of the state’s land but support up to 75% of its wildlife, making them among the most critical — and most threatened — ecosystems in the region. Cottonwood-willow riparian forests that once lined rivers across the Southwest are now the rarest forest type in North America.
