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To the Editor: 

So, cattle are going to be turned out to yet another of our East Bay Regional Parks (EBRP), the Black Diamond Regional Preserve, with no prior public decision process (Daily Planet, Nov. 12). Please don’t repeat the myth that cattle grazing “benefits plant and animal life,” which is a party line from a parks board that wants to collect the grazing fees. A large body of scientific literature shows that livestock grazing is one of the largest causes of environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity in the world. But all you have to do is visit one of our cow-infested parks to enjoy the pocked, mucky trails, the trampled, denuded ponds, avoid the cow pies and wonder what happened to the wildlife and wildflowers that used to be there. 

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the EBRP board four years ago over their refusal to provide an environmental impact report for their grazing policy, which prompted the board to set up a task force to review the grazing policy. After listening for several months to the public complain about the destruction of the parks and the disappearance of wildlife since cattle were brought in, the task force approved business as usual. 

Cattle are responsible for several serious alterations in native habitats. Cowaholics like to say that this area has been grazed since prehistoric times, but cattle do not graze or move about in the same manner as elk. There is a lot of comparative information from the Point Reyes elk herds. Five or six elk can use the forage taken by one cow; elk do not hang out in and trample riparian areas, and because elk eat more leaves than cattle, they affect the landscape differently and would be better at reducing fire fuels. 

Karen Klitz 

Berkeley