June 4, 2018 Leeann Murphy Acting District Ranger Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Bridgeport Ranger District HC 62 Box 1000 Bridgeport CA 93517 Via email <
[email protected]> RE: Bridgeport Southwest Rangeland Project Dear District Ranger: These comments are submitted on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Wilderness Watch (collectively “conservation groups”) regarding the Public Scoping Notice for the Bridgeport Southwest Rangeland Project which anticipates preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) addressing livestock grazing on the Cameron Canyon, Dunderberg, Summers Meadow, and Tamarack grazing allotments on lands within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Bridgeport Ranger District in Mono County, California. The conservation groups support the actions taken by the Forest Service to protect the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep by canceling the domestic sheep permits on these allotments. These scoping comments address concerns regarding the impacts of the new proposal to issue cattle grazing permits on these allotments and alternatives that should be considered during this National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. Western Watersheds Project is a non-profit organization with more than 5,000 members and supporters. Our mission is to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives and legal advocacy. Western Watersheds Project and its staff and members use and enjoy the public lands and their wildlife, cultural and natural resources for health, recreational, scientific, spiritual, educational, aesthetic, and other purposes. The Center for Biological Diversity is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection of native species and their habitats through science, policy, Scoping Comments on Bridgeport Southwest Rangeland Project June 4, 2018 Page 1 and environmental law.