Would you rather have golden trout or cows?

[DavidBrown]

Golden trout are an endemic and endangered wild trout species in the high country of California (see photo in article) that are being threatened by cattle grazing. I love burgers and the romance of the Old West, but aren't there enough @!#$%ing cows in the world that we can let the trout go about their business?

Cows versus trout in the Eastern Sierra - latimes.com

 

[Arizona Docent]

I gave up beef a decade and a half ago for reasons such as these. (Not to mention it is not very good for your health either).

 

[Monty]

Venison is better for you and the environment.

 

[Ituri]

This seems a bit of an oversimplification. Sure, there are plenty of other cows out there, but what about the ranchers and their families who own the land and make their livelihood from those cows. Conservation can't work if we ignore the needs of people.

 

[DavidBrown]

This seems a bit of an oversimplification. Sure, there are plenty of other cows out there, but what about the ranchers and their families who own the land and make their livelihood from those cows. Conservation can't work if we ignore the needs of people.

You are absolutely correct on general principal about this, however this is a special case of cattle grazing in an isolated area of public land in a wilderness zone.

The issue here is whether cows and their ranchers should have the right to do whatever they want and go wherever they want on public land regardless of the ecological damage that they cause. Without public grazing rights many of these ranchers could not run an economically viable business. I want them to be able to run their business, but as I (and all other US citizens) are subsidizing them, I want them to not graze their cattle such that they endanger the golden trout or cause unnecessary ecological damage.

I am not anti-rancher or anti-cow. I am anti-stupid decision making when it seems clear that there are ways for the ranchers and their cattle to do whatever they need to do without causing any harm to the trout. If some grazing can be allowed without any ecological damage that is fine with me. However if there is ANY uncertainty about this, and the issue is that protecting the golden trout is going to cause some inconvenience to some ranchers using land that is as much mine as theirs, I am against letting the cows graze in these areas.