The stockmen, a type of Australian cowboy, are angry at the Victoria state government's move to stop horses and cattle grazing in mountain national parks during summer.

About 500 cattlemen on horseback staged a muster through Melbourne's streets Thursday, calling for a reversal of the ban.

They won support from federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell Friday, who used emergency listing provisions under the Environment Act to declare mountain grazing a part of Australia's national heritage.

"(I) believe the Victorian government's decision to ban grazing in the park poses a clear threat to historic heritage values," he said in a statement.

The Victorian government said the listing was a stunt that would not overturn the ban because politicians in Canberra could not force the state to re-issue the licences under which the grazing takes place.

Victorian Environment Minister John Thwaites said the federal government was setting the stage for a protracted and unnecessary legal battle.

"There's no reason to go to court, we don't think that's necessary at all," he said.

Environmentalists said the animals eat rare plants and their hooves break up the soil in Victoria's high country.

A report earlier this year found cattle and horses were causing irreparable damage to the state's alpine national parks.

The state government says the ban will not end the stockmen's way of life because they will still be able to graze their animals in alpine areas outside the state's national parks.