Nogales International

After seven years, a Santa Cruz County rancher has won a judgment of $600,000 for alleged libelous and false statements posted on the internet by an environmental activism group.

On Friday, Jan. 21, a Tucson jury found the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group based in Tucson, guilty of making "false, unfair, libelous and defamatory statements" against Jim Chilton, a Southern Arizona Rancher.

Chilton owns the Montana Allotment, which extends west of Nogales from the U.S./Mexico border, along the Buenos Aires Refuge around the hamlet of Oro Blanco and ghost town of Ruby and into Pima County, around the town and lake of Arivaca.

"Most of the land my cattle graze on is in Santa Cruz County," said Chilton, whose family has been ranching in Arizona for five generations.

The Tucson jury awarded Chilton $100,000 in actual damages, and $500,000 in punitive damages for defaming him and his family business.

In July 2002, the center posted a two-page press release with 21 photographs posted on their web-site that were "false and misleading regarding Chilton's 21,500 acre Montana grazing allotment northwest of Nogales," said Kraig Marton, Chilton's attorney.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Chilton explained that the Center for Biological Diversity "clearly demonstrates that they want to end all grazing in the western United States on state and federal land."

The suit was filed, according to Chilton, because he wanted to challenge the way the Center for Biological Diversity does business. "They don't use science, they use scare tactics," said Chilton. "They also use endangered species as surrogates to obtain their own goals and to raise money," he added.

The jury agreed with Chilton's claim, citing the Center did make false statements in a news advisory, and that misleading photographs were used in an unsuccessful effort to block renewal of Chilton's grazing permit. The jury also cited that the Center did not accurately describe the condition of the grazing allotment.

"Four of the photographs were of other people's private property," Chilton said.

"What they do is sue the forest service," Chilton explained.

"If the forest service doesn't do something they (Center for Biological Diversity) ask for an injunction to end grazing until the forest service rights its wrong."

"In 1999 I was involved in a lawsuit that affected 85 ranches in the southwest, including Santa Cruz County"

The source of these controversial lawsuits are two endangered animal species: the lesser long nosed bat and Sonoran chub, a small fish endemic to the Sonoran Desert.

Chilton explained that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published an opinion that cattle grazing would "likely adversely affect the Sonoran Chub."

In order for Chilton to continue grazing on certain pastures, a biologist, zoologist, fish biologist, rangeland conservation expert and botanist would have to inspect his pastures nine times a year.

"That would have wiped me out," said Chilton, adding, "I objected strenuously to this ruling and filed a lawsuit with the Arizona Cattle Growers' Association" and eventually had the ruling overturned.

A federal district court "ruled the FWS could not obtain 'regulatory jurisdiction' unless the species, in fact, existed. Even if they were on my allotment, the FWS would have to prove that cattle grazing would kill the chub, or the bat.

"It's been a seven-year struggle. I'm extremely gratified that the evidence has proven them to be liars," said Chilton.

When asked if ranchers and environmental activists did not have a common interest in conserving the environment, Chilton said. "Cattle have been grazing on the Montana Allotment for 300 years. We (ranchers) have to maintain the land so grazing can be sustainable for the next few centuries."

He added, "I, too, consider myself an environmentalist. Because every day is Earth Day for me."

The Center for Biological Diversity did not respond to telephone calls and emails for this story.