Friends of Idaho Watersheds Project
A new public lands ranching support bill (HR2493) has been
introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Bob Smith of Eastern
Oregon. This bill, another in a long series of attempts to turn public lands in the west
over to public lands ranchers, has already passed out of Committee to the House
Floor. Please contact your Congressional representatives to express your opposition to
this land grab. It is especially important to do so if you are represented by a moderate
Republican Congressman or woman who might well, like Representative Boehlert of New York,
determine the fate of this bill.
You also might consider contacting Bill Clinton (President@whitehouse.gov) to veto this bill if it shows up on his desk.
October 17, 1997
Some facts about HR 2493:
"A bill to establish a mechanism by which the Secretary of
Agriculture
and Secretary of Interior can provide for uniform management of
livestock grazing on Federal lands." Sounds innocent enough. But
here's what it really does for your National Forests and BLM managed
public lands:
Promotes overgrazing through a new
bargain-basement grazing fee
formula which promotes livestock overgrazing on marginal lands ,
expands subleasing to Forest Service lands. (This means that Joe
rancher leases your public land for $1.35 per AUM and subleases it to
another rancher for $8.35 and pockets $7 profit. They've been doing it
for years on BLM land.), and established a fee 75% less than it was 35
years ago!
Prevents hunting ,fishing , and recreation
interests from
participating in cooperative efforts to improve range management
through so-called "coordinated resource management" agreements
Converts the existing grazing
"privilege" into a "private property
right". (This means that taxpayers could end up paying grazing
permittees if land managers limit livestock numbers or access in order
to protect resources.
Limits public access to federal lands and hampers
the ability of
non-livestock individuals from participating in management and
protection decisions for public land. For example, it prevents members
of the public from monitoring range conditions on public lands. Only
livestock operators will be able to do that. In addition, Resource
Advisory Councils (RACs) would be dominated by livestock permittees and
would be required to consult with
rancher-only state grazing boards.
In brief, HR 2493 makes livestock grazing the DOMINANT
USE of your
public land. According to reliable sources, the bill incorporates 7 of
the livestock industry's top 18 priorities. They will be working on
the House Resources Committee to include the other 11.
If you value your public land, its fisheries and
wildlife, you need
to get on top of this situation as soon as possible. It will probably
do no good to contact Idaho’s congressional representatives (although
you might give it a try ) who are sure to favor the measure. But, you
can gather as many signatures as you can on a letter of protest and
send it to Rep. Sherman Boehlert (R-NY). Please spread the word about
the bill and make sure people understand that it is moving quickly
through the House.
You might include in your letter of protest the following bits of
information: