Ranchers Gain From Proposed Grazing Rule Changes

WASHINGTON, DC, March 11, 2003 (ENS) - The Bureau of Land Management, which has regulatory authority over some 262 million acres of federal land in 12 Western states, has announced proposed rule changes that agency officials said are aimed at improving the agency's management of the public rangelands.

BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said the changes reflect the Bush administration's "new environmentalism."

This is a policy, Clarke explained, that "looks to those closest to the land, rather than Washington, DC, for answers to public land issues." The rule changes were published March 3 in the Federal Register, giving the public 60 days to comment.

Conservationists say the changes to federal rules governing grazing on public lands will do little to reform a system that they believe harms the environment and shortchanges the American taxpayer.

Some 167 million acres of land governed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is authorized for grazing.

Ranchers pay far less to graze cattle on public lands than they do to graze on private lands. (Photo by courtesy Conservation Beef)

But conservationists are suspicious of proposals they will believe limit public appeals and make it more difficult for BLM officials to remove permit holders who overgraze. They warn that the changes elevate economic interests over environmental protection and fail to address the issue of grazing fees.

"This is yet another blatant attempt by the Bush administration to curtail the ability of the public to participate in decisions affecting our public lands," said Laurie Fulkerson, grazing program coordinator for Forest Guardian, a conservation group focused on the American Southwest.

"The BLM's effort to push the administration's agenda through these proposed regulations occurs at the expense of native wildlife, plants, and streams," Fulkerson said.

In its announcement, BLM officials said they want to create provisions to reemphasize consideration of social, economic and cultural impacts, in addition to the ecological impacts of federal reviews of agency actions under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The proposed changes include "streamlining" the administrative appeals process related to grazing decisions and reinstating a provision that allows the agency and a grazing permit holder to share title of certain range improvements, such as a fence, well, or pipeline, if they are constructed under what is known as a Cooperative Range Improvement Agreement.

Conservationists contend that reinstating this provision will make it more difficult for the agency to remove permit holders who overgraze. They believe the transfer of ownership of public infrastructure to private hands will increase the costs of buying out permit holders found to be engaged in harmful practices.

Conservationists contend the U.S. grazing policy allows environmental harm and subsidizes the beef industry. (Photo courtesy Forest Guardians)

But as the BLM is planning an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), it is clear that this will be a "major departure" from the current regulations, Alberswerth said.

The proposed revisions do not tackle the issue of grazing fees, which many conservationists believe is a key shortcoming of the current regulatory framework.

Conservationists have long argued that the fee is too low and encourages overgrazing, which has serious environmental consequences. But the government has sided with grazing interests, who contend public land ranchers have to invest more time and resources on federal lands than on private rangeland.

Grazing fees on federal lands bring in less than $6.5 million a year to the U.S. government and fall far short of covering administration costs, which run at some $63 million annually.

In February the government announced this year's fee for grazing on public lands will be lowered to $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM), down from $1.43 last year.

An AUM is defined as the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. The formula used for calculating the fee was established by Congress in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act and has continued under a presidential Executive Order issued in 1986, which mandated that the fee cannot fall below $1.35 per AUM.

Grazing has left environmental damage on many Western public lands, including this streambank in Arizona's Black Canyon Creek. (Photo courtesy Public Lands Grazing Activists)

Based on the formula, the 2003 fee dropped primarily because of a decline in beef cattle prices in 2002.

The $1.35 per AUM grazing fee, which took effect March 1, applies to 16 Western states on public lands administered by the BLM and the Forest Service.

It is hard to argue the U.S. government is not heavily subsidizing grazing on public lands. An October 2002 study by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) found that the minimum cost to U.S. taxpayers of the federal grazing on public lands is $128 million. But this number could be as high as $1 billion, CBD analysts determined, because of indirect costs from resource damage and subsidies.

In late February, a coalition of eight citizen groups filed suit against the Forest Service for failing to reform the fee for grazing on National Forests in the Western United States.

"The Forest Service charges about as much to run a cow on public lands as it costs to feed a pet hamster," said Peter Galvin, CBD conservation biologist. "Livestock grazing on public lands is one of the major causes of species endangerment in the U.S."

Last October, a federal judge ruled that the Forest Service was in violation of the Endangered Species Act in the 11 national forests of New Mexico and Arizona because it had failed to monitor and restrict livestock grazing on more than 15 million acres.

The public has until May 2 to comment on the BLM's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the accompanying EIS, which will be discussed at four public meetings. The meeting schedule and the agency's proposed rule changes can be found at: www.blm.gov/nhp/news/regulatory/index.htm.