Judge Reprimands Federal Agency

A judge spared federal officials a contempt-of-court charge Thursday, but implied that he might be less understanding if they don’t follow through on a deal to keep cattle off land reserved for the threatened desert tortoise.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups asked the judge to hold the Bureau of Land Management in contempt for not meeting a March 1 deadline to block grazing on more than 500,000 acres of public land.

But U.S. District Judge William Alsup praised the BLM for developing a plan to comply with a consent decree reached in January by Sept. 7.