BLM issues proposed grazing amendment for Sonoran Desert National Monument

PHOENIX – The Bureau of Land Management is proposing a resource management plan amendment for livestock grazing within the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The amendment would make six allotments in the monument available for brief periods of grazing, based on the availability of forage and subject to additional, allotment-specific analysis. 

“Designating the allotments for brief periods of use means we can respond to conditions on the ground,” said Phoenix District Manager Leon Thomas. “Before we permit grazing on an allotment, we would conduct additional environmental analysis to determine if that allotment is currently suitable for grazing.” 

Additional information is available at the BLM National NEPA Register. The release of the proposed resource management plan amendment opens a 30-day protest period that begins today and end Nov. 6. Those who previously participated in the planning process and have an interest adversely affected by the proposed plan may file a plan protest electronically via the BLM National NEPA Register (preferred); or by delivery to: BLM Director, Attention: Protest Coordinator (HQ210), Denver Federal Center, Building 40 (Door W-4), Lakewood, CO 80215. 

The 2001 presidential proclamation establishing the monument directed the BLM to determine the compatibility of livestock grazing on monument lands north of Interstate 8. The BLM completed a resource management plan and record of decision for the monument in 2012, which addressed grazing among other resource uses. In 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona remanded a portion of the 2012 plan back to the BLM. In 2020, the BLM issued a resource management plan amendment specific to livestock grazing; a legal challenge to the plan amendment prompted this phase of the planning effort.