Federal judge denies injunction to stop sheep grazing in Gravelly Mountains
In July, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris denied a preliminary injunction to block sheep grazing on two U.S. Forest Service allotments in the Gravelly Mountains in southwestern Montana. The injunction was sought by the Gallatin Wildlife Association (GWA) and would have affected permittees Helle Livestock and Rebish/Konen Livestock Limited Partnership. The decision is significant because it demonstrates that the Court is thus far unconvinced by GWA’s claims and presently finds the group unlikely to succeed on the merits of the case.
GWA claimed an injunction was necessary to prevent irreparable harm to grizzly bears and bighorn sheep, as well as its members’ recreational and aesthetic values. In a memorandum explaining his decision to deny the injunction, Judge Morris highlighted the fact that domestic sheep have grazed in the Gravelly Mountains since the 1860s and seven domestic sheep grazing allotments have been managed there since the 1920s. He stated, “Gallatin fails to explain how this historical grazing apparently has not caused irreparable harm, yet allowing grazing to occur during the 2015 grazing season would cause irreparable harm.”
Judge Morris also pointed out that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks introduced the Greenhorn herd of bighorns sheep into the Gravelly Mountains just 12 years ago. A distance of six to 17 miles separates the bighorn sheep herd from one of the grazing allotments. No commingling has occurred to-date and no bighorn sheep have been removed or died due to domestic sheep grazing. Regarding grizzly bears, Judge Morris repeated his belief that GWA had failed to provide evidence why this year would be any more irreparably harmful to grizzly bears than the past 150 years of sheep grazing.
In the overarching case, GWA brought suit against the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) challenging the Annual Operating Instructions, the 2009 Revised Forest Plan, USFWS’s 2013 Biological Opinion for the Revised Forest Plan, and the Forest Service’s failure to prepare supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis on specific Allotment Management Plans. GWA alleges that the Forest Service has violated NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Forest Management Act. Seven grazing allotments in the Gravelly Mountains are at issue in the case. The Helles and Rebish/Konen Livestock, as permittees, were allowed to intervene.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Court must defer to the agencies’ judgment, and will only set aside their decisions if it determines their actions were “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 5 U.S.C. 706(2)(A). The Court’s preliminary review in the context of the injunction decision revealed no such issues.
The Court did express concerns about the Forest Service failing to include a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between itself, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the permittees as part of its final Environmental Impact Statement. The MOU prohibits the Forest Service from changing the domestic sheep grazing, but any of the parties can terminate the agreement at any time. The fact that the MOU was eventually acknowledged, “tempers the Court’s concern,” according to the memorandum. However, this issue could have an impact on GWA’s claims in regards to NEPA violations.
In the memorandum, Judge Morris emphasized the challenge for federal land managers to balance the “seeming incompatibility of grizzly bear and bighorn sheep with domestic sheep.” He stated that the issues presented by GWA will likely remain beyond this grazing season and the Court will carefully examine the issues raised by the case. However, an injunction to halt grazing this season was not warranted.
By Ariel Overstreet-Adkins, law student at the University of Montana School of Law