Ever since rogue rancher Frank Robbins moved to Thermopolis from northern Alabama and traded the rubber flooring business for public lands ranching, he has run afoul of the local Bureau of Land Management.

After nine years of livestock grazing violations culminating in a controversial settlement brokered by Bush-appointed Interior Department officials, Robbins is now in trouble with Western Watersheds Project.

In July WWP filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the BLM over the Robbins settlement. The notice was sent to the agency and Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton.

Beginning in 1994, Robbins acquired three large ranches near Thermopolis and Worland, Wyo. He has been in trouble with the local agency officials ever since.

The rancher's record with the Worland BLM, documented in BLM files and reported in the Billings Gazette, includes dozens of trespass notices, cancellation of grazing permits, charges of unauthorized use of public land, attempts to block BLM workers from monitoring the land, alleged violations of cease-and-desist orders and defiance of emergency closures to protect the environment during drought.

According to WWP sources, Robbins used his close ties to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) to force a remarkable and allegedly illegal settlement of his grazing violations with Norton and BLM Director Kathleen Clarke.

"This [settlement] undermines sane range management throughout the West," said Jeff Ruch, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, in a story published in the Casper Star-Tribune. "Once it is know these kinds of deals can be gotten, there's going to be a long line at the door to get them. The public interest has been sold out."