Shaving Livestock Grazing's Carbon Hoofprint

Even as efforts to combat climate change intensify, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to overlook the significant impact of commercial livestock grazing on climate change. This oversight is highlighted in complaints filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which argue that BLM's grazing policies fail to address or mitigate climate impacts.

BLM manages 21,000 grazing allotments across 155 million acres of federal rangelands in 11 Western states. Despite federal directives to consider climate change in planning, BLM often ignores the climate impacts of grazing, such as reduced soil carbon sequestration and increased methane emissions.

Climate Change and Grazing

PEER's complaints emphasize the need for BLM to acknowledge and address the climate impacts of grazing, including:

• Grazing reduces soil carbon sequestration, releasing an estimated 11 million additional tons of carbon annually.
• The livestock sector contributes over one-third of human-induced methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas.
• Public lands grazing significantly alters landscapes, exacerbating desertification, degrading riparian areas, and facilitating invasive species.

These effects are worsened by poor management, with many allotments failing to meet BLM's range health standards. As more lands are assessed, the extent of damage has doubled, highlighting the need for better management practices.

Call for Action

PEER urges the White House Council on Environmental Quality to ensure BLM includes climate impact assessments in its planning, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. They also call on the Interior Secretary to enforce compliance with climate mitigation directives and promote climate-resilient lands.

For more information, visit the original article by PEER.