Unlike some organizations, CSERC does not litigate often. Our focus has consistently been to do our utmost to show respect for opposing points of view and to strive for middle ground solutions whenever that can benefit the environment. Lawsuits are polarizing — and also aggravating to the agency that gets sued.
But at some point, when a decision-making agency fails to follow the law over and over again, the only option left is to file a lawsuit.
For more than 20 years, CSERC staff has monitored national forest meadows, streams, and other vulnerable habitat areas where livestock often cause resource damage. Each year CSERC submits to the Forest Service an annual grazing report, describing which meadows were overgrazed, where aquatic areas were pocked, chiseled, or denuded, and where important wildlife habitat was damaged.
And each year Forest Service staff rationalize why we found the disturbed areas, why better agency monitoring will supposedly correct the problem in the future, and why the Stanislaus Forest staff continues to allow the same number of cattle and the same season of grazing to be approved, despite the obvious impacts.