Jeff  Sussmann’s comments opposing the Gila River Diversion make sense. This diversion proposal is  an ecological nightmare waiting to happen.

One of the major supporters of this anti-environmental scheme  is the grazing industry lobby, which not only vehemently opposes wolf reintroduction in the Gila bio- region, but also has a long history of demanding the slaughter of wolves, coyotes,  mountain lions and other native wild animals, for  livestock. The livestock associations  want wild & scenic rivers like the Gila excluded  from any further wilderness designation discussions.

Ecologist, author,& grazing activist, George Wuerthner, said: “Livestock production, which includes irrigation of livestock feed crops, accounts for the greatest consumption of water in the West. Such a water intensive industry is poorly suited to the arid West…and is a major cause of species decline throughout the region.”

The Gila River is a desert river, increasingly  under stress due to human-caused climate change, and public lands grazing. The  birds, mammals,  & other native species depend upon the Gila for their continued existence. Are we going to allow tax-payer- subsidized public lands ranchers to decide the fate of this ecosystem? We taxpayers will foot the bill, but the flora and fauna, & the  fragile river system, will pay the ultimate price: A dead river, and species extinctions.