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South Fork Kern Wild & Scenic River and Golden Trout Wilderness Threatened By Overgrazing
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comments in response to their proposal to continue cattle grazing on public lands along the South Fork Kern Wild & Scenic River and within the Golden Trout Wilderness. The agency is trying to determine the appropriate level of grazing that will be allowed in the so-called Templeton and Whitney grazing allotments southwest of Mt. Whitney on the Inyo National Forest. Currently, the Anheuser-Busch Company grazes 2,695 cows on the public lands in these allotments.
This area of the southern Sierra Nevada has been heavily overgrazed for more than 150 years. Continued grazing has denuded riparian habitat from the banks of the South Kern Wild & Scenic River, and made the river wider and more shallow. According to the Forest Service's own assessment, past and current grazing has also:
... Damaged 80 percent of the Kern Plateau with gully erosion.
... Reduced habitat for the California golden trout (a sensitive species), the mountain yellow-legged frog (a sensitive species proposed for federal protection), and the willow fly-catcher (a state-listed endangered species).
... Degraded water quality by contributing to high sediment loads, increasing water temperatures, and elevating levels of bacteria and nutrients.
... Increased conflicts with recreational visitors, damaged trails, degraded scenic quality and adversely impacted the overall wilderness experience.
And yet, the Forest Service is proposing to continue grazing in the Templeton and Whitney allotments. The agency intends to control grazing by fencing off meadows and requiring frequent movement of the cattle. Environmental impacts will continue, but will be partially mitigated through watershed and meadow restoration projects. However, the agency's own assessment indicates that these measures will result in only moderate reduction in pollution and other environmental effects. The agency admits that eliminating grazing from these allotments would significantly reduce pollution and improve water quality.
Continued heavy grazing in these allotments, despite increased controls and mitigation measures, still violates the National Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. The South Fork Kern was added by Congress in 1987 to the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System to protect its outstanding scenic, recreation, fishery, botanical, and geological values. These federally protected values include its unique population of golden trout, two sensitive plants (Ramshaw sand verbena and Alkali mariposa), extensive recreational opportunities, and highly scenic meadows all of which the Forest Service acknowledges will be adversely impacted by continued grazing.
In addition, the agency's proposal to build more fences in the area to control cattle will not comply with the Wilderness Act mandate against human-made intrusions. The trail system will continue to be heavily impacted by cattle. Chronic water pollution from grazing will not meet Clean Water Act standards, and ongoing degradation of habitat for sensitive, threatened, and endangered species will violate the Endangered Species Act.
What You Can Do:
Write a letter today to Luci McKee, Mt. Whitney District Ranger, Inyo National Forest, P.O. Box 8, Lone Pine, CA 93545. Urge Ms. McKee to adopt Alternative A, the no grazing alternative. This is the only alternative that guarantees protection for the South Fork Kern Wild & Scenic River's outstanding values and complies with the Wilderness Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. If you have hiked, backpacked, or fished in this area, be sure to include your personal views on the impacts that grazing may have had on your wilderness experience. The deadline to receive public comments is November 1, 2000.
For more information concerning this issue, please contact Steve Evans at Friends of the River, 915 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 442-3155, ext. 221, email: sevans@friendsoftheriver.org.
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
