FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — The Center for Biological Diversity is preparing to sue the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, saying the agencies have failed to protect rare Sierra Nevada amphibians from cattle grazing.
The dispute focuses on six grazing areas in the Sierra National Forest that provide habitat for the threatened Yosemite toad and endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog.
“We’re launching this lawsuit to push the Forest Service to live up to its own commitments,” said Tara Zuardo, a senior advocate at the Center. “These rare frogs and toads are barely hanging on, yet the Forest Service is allowing cattle to trample the very streams and mountain meadows they need to survive.”
The Center says surveys in 2024 and 2025 found cattle entering sensitive wetlands and breeding areas, along with damaged fences, trampled streambanks, erosion and vegetation loss.
Both species have suffered major declines and depend on fragile streams, ponds and mountain meadows. Cattle can damage these habitats and potentially trample eggs, tadpoles and young amphibians.
Federal officials previously allowed grazing to continue with restrictions and monitoring intended to protect the animals. But the Center says those safeguards haven’t been consistently followed or enforced.
The group is asking federal agencies to conduct a new Endangered Species Act review and remove livestock from the six grazing areas while that review takes place. If the agencies don’t act, the Center says it intends to file a federal lawsuit after the required 60-day notice period.
