U.S. offers
rules to preserve grazing
But opponents warn that a
legal fight is likely
By
Lee
Davidson
Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON — The Interior
Department on Friday proposed new public lands grazing rules that it says
would ensure that social, cultural and economic impacts are considered,
along with environmental impacts, when making grazing decisions.
"This proposed rule will help public lands ranchers stay on the land,"
Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in a speech to the Joint Stockmen's
Convention in New Mexico.
In Washington,
U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke, a native Utahn,
said the proposal "reflects our agency's commitment to continue
livestock grazing as one of the legitimate uses of the public lands."
Grazing is one of many battlefronts between environmental groups
and ranchers, miners, the timber industry and others who seek to develop
land. The new rules appear to go to great lengths to help ranchers, who
have complained that environmental rules make it more difficult to
survive.
Environmentalists say the new rules will likely be challenged in
court.
"What Interior is trying to claim is that ranchers have a right
rather than a privilege to graze on public lands. That's already been
struck down in courts," said Denise Boggs, executive director of the
Utah Environmental Congress.
Provisions of the proposed rule change include:
- Ensuring that BLM managers consider and document the social,
cultural and economic consequences of decisions affecting grazing, and
do not focus only on the environment. Norton said that "recognizes that ranching is crucial not only
to the economies of Western rural communities but also to the history,
social fabric and cultural identity of these communities."
- Allowing the BLM and a grazing permittee to share title to some
permanent range improvements, such as fences, wells or pipelines.
Clarke has said that will give ranchers incentive to make improvements
to the land.
- Removing the current requirement that the BLM seek sole ownership
of water rights for grazing where allowed by state law.
- Phasing in any grazing reductions (and increases) of more than 10
percent over a five-year period whenever possible but recognizing
BLM's authority to take bigger steps if necessary because of drought,
fire and other resource conditions.
- Requiring more in-depth assessments and monitoring of conditions
to support BLM evaluations of whether an allotment is meeting
rangeland health standards.
- Removing the current three-consecutive-year limit on temporary
non-use of a grazing permit. BLM says that offers more flexibility for
it to work with grazing permittees to rest the land as needed or
respond to changing business needs.
Boggs said the rules give special privileges to ranchers
without considering the vast majority of those who have a stake in
public lands.
"I think
that's a very dangerous slippery slope," Boggs said. "Interior is
asking for special privilege to certain classes of people on federal
lands. If it does it for ranchers, what happens when the climbers
come and want to be a special class?"
Besides that, she added, ranching is only a small sliver of
the economy.
"You could abolish grazing on public lands and it would be a
blip on the economic radar screen," Boggs said
The proposed rule is scheduled to be published formally in the
Federal Register on Monday and will be followed by a 60-day public
comment period before the department may move to make it final.
The BLM also expects to publish a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement on the proposed rule this month, also to be followed by a
60-day public comment period.
Clarke said the changes "will improve the agency's working
relationships with its grazing permittees, resulting in better
stewardship of lands that are crucial for open space and wildlife
habitat in the rapidly growing West."
E-mail: lee@desnews.com
Contributing: Donna Kemp Spangler |
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