Ranchers Defy US in Grazing Parched Nevada Lands, Environmentalists Say

"A Nevada ranch defied U.S. drought closure orders in grazing cattle on federally managed land, environmentalists said on Wednesday, comparing it to action by another Nevada rancher that led to an armed standoff last year with federal agents.

The ranchers in the Battle Mountain area in northern Nevada let their livestock graze on Tuesday at the North Buffalo allotment managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Western Watersheds Project said in a statement.

'The ranchers generate public sympathy for their custom and culture, all the while despoiling the land, wildlife, and water and disregarding the laws that govern the heavily subsidized grazing permits they feel so entitled to,' said Ken Cole, Idaho director for Western Watersheds Project."

Eric M. Johnson reports for Reuters June 3, 2015.