EARLY OCTOBER NEWS
AIR FORCE TO PAY $1,000,000 TO PUBLIC LAND RANCHER FOR AUMS AT IDAHO BOMBING RANGE SITE
In a front page story today (10/6) by Nils Nokkentved, the Twin
Falls,
Idaho, Time-News announced that the newspaper had received a copy of a
signed agreement between the U.S. Air Force and Three Creek Rancher
Bert Brackett which will result in the Air Force paying $650,000 to
compensate Brackett for lost BLM Animal Unit Months (AUMs) on the
Juniper Draw Allotment which is the location for a proposed Air Force
drop site under an expanded training (bombing) range proposal. These
grazing AUMs are permitted by the BLM and can be revoked for cause at
any time without compensation. For the 1252 AUMs, Brackett will be
paid $519.00 per AUM or about 10 times the going rate in the open
market. In addition, the Air Force will acquire 780 BLM and State of
Idaho AUMs from adjoining ranchers Frank and Cindy Bachman (Frank
Bachman is the livestock operations manager for Simplot Livestock, the
second largest public lands ranching operation in the U.S.) for
$325,000 and turn them over to Brackett. Those AUMs are being acquired
for $416.00 per AUM or about 8 times the going open market rate.
Readers may recall that this sweetheart deal was publicized on the NBC
News with Tom Brokaw segment "The Fleecing of America" this past summer
as well as on the ABC evening news with Peter Jennings the same night.
The authorization for the Air Force training range is awaiting
President Clinton's signature as part of the 1999 Defense Authorization
Bill.
The BLM will have to act to transfer the Bachmann grazing permit to
Brackett who already has grazing permits on 300,000 acres of public
land in southern Idaho and northern Nevada. IWP suggests this case is a
classic example of welfare ranching ripping off the people of the USA.
IWP has requested that the Air Force provide us with a copy of their
appraisal of the value of the AUMs.
IWP BOARD MEMBERS COMPLETE 9 DAY TOUR OF GRAZING ALLOTMENTS IN THREE STATES
IWP Board members Gene Bray and Jon Marvel completed last week a
nine
day tour of grazing allotments in Idaho, Nevada, and Utah on Idaho
watersheds. IWP is an "interested public" on all these areas on BLM
administered lands, and has been involved in influencing management on
both BLM and Forest Service allotments. In Nevada, we toured for two
days with Nevada BLM State Director, Bob Abbey, and 10 other BLM
officials the 30,000 acre Cottonwood Allotment and the 360,000 acre
Salmon River Allotment. The former is managed under a controversial
"holistic" system which requires temporary non-renewable use be
authorized every year on the allotment. The permittee owns only 40
acres and very few cattle and sub-leases forage, at 8 times the rate he
pays the BLM, to non-permitted ranchers. The Salmon River Allotment is
one of the largest in northeast Nevada (it includes a whole mountain
range, the Granite Range) and has over 100 miles of degraded streams and
upland riparian sites. IWP is hopeful that the comments of the
unacceptability of the conditions he observed by State Director Abbey
will result in significant management change on this huge allotment
which is grazed by absentee millionaire Idaho hobby ranchers.
Unusually degraded conditions were also observed on the Logan Ranger
District of the Cache National Forest in Utah, the Montpelier District
of the Caribou National Forest in Idaho, and on the Pleasantview and
Samaria Mountains Allotments of the Malad Resource Area of the BLM also
in Idaho. Some good news came out of the whole tour from our 2 days
spent on the Lemhi Resource Area of the BLM, with 8 BLM staffers
including two Resource Area Managers, which includes over 1.2 million
public land acres south of Salmon, Idaho. This Resource Area requires a
6" stubble height each year on creeks and springs because of critical
habitat for chinook salmon (there were 0ver 50 redds counted this year
in the Lemhi River watershed) and bull trout, and the recovery of
riparian areas is noticeable and remarkable especially in comparison
with other BLM areas. Young cottonwood trees are growing where none
have been able to for the last 80 years ! Kudos to manager Dave
Krosting and his staff.