On December 31st, 2009 Western Watersheds Project won litigation against the Bureau of Land Management that will require Mandatory and enforceable terms and conditions on livestock grazing that protect watershed health and wildlife habitat on public lands.
Conclusion
The Court will therefore grant in part WWP’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the IBLA decision is arbitrary and capricious (1) for its failure to recognize that the Management Guidelines are voluntary, in violation of the BLM’s regulations that require them to be mandatory, and (2) for silently reversing Judge Pearlstein’s decision that the Final Decision regarding the Nickel Creek FFR allotment violates the FRH regulations.
This matter is remanded to the BLM to (1) include the Management Guidelines as mandatory Terms and Conditions, and (2) render a new decision on the Nickel Creek FFR allotment consistent with this decision. Assuming that the Management Guidelines will be made mandatory Terms and Conditions of the permits, the Court will deny the remainder of WWP’s motion, and will also deny the motions filed by the BLM and the intervenors.
