Report Says Keeping Public Lands Open for Grazing Costs $123 Million a Year

[Guest guest]

Report Says Keeping Public Lands Open for Grazing Costs $123 Million a Year

 

November 01, 2005 — By Jennifer Talhelm, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Federal agencies spend at least $123 million a year to keep

public lands open to livestock grazing, according to a government report that

environmentalists say bolsters their argument that grazing should be limited.

 

" If we are going to allow grazing on our public lands, the very least we should

be doing is we should be recovering the costs, " said Greta Anderson, a Tucson,

Ariz., botanist and the range restoration campaign coordinator for the Center

for Biological Diversity.

 

Jim Hughes, deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management -- which, with the

Forest Service, manages 98 percent of grazing permits -- said the agency charges

a fee set by law and is not advocating a change or an increase.

 

" We have many programs that cost us more ... to operate than we take in, " Hughes

said. " It's never been our mission to be run totally like a business. "

 

Ranching on the millions of acres of public lands has been a mainstay of western

life for more than a century. Ranchers pay a fee often based on the amount of

grass and other vegetation their cows will eat. The agencies spend the money on

managing permits and leases, building fences and developing water projects,

among other activities.

 

The arrangement increasingly has caused friction as more demands are put on

western lands. Environmentalists question whether taxpayers should support

public lands grazing.

 

According to the analysis released Monday by the Government Accountability

Office, grazing fees cover only about a sixth of the cost of managing the

program.

 

In 2004, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and several other

agencies spent $144 million and generated just $21 million from grazing fees.

 

Ranchers who hold public lands grazing permits get a deal, paying as little as

$1.43 per animal unit month -- the amount of forage a cow and her calf can eat

in a month -- according to the GAO.

 

Jeff Eisenberg, executive director of the Public Lands Council, which advocates

for ranchers, said the numbers in the report don't represent the whole picture.

The benefits of maintaining a way of life and keeping land free from development

are difficult to quantify, he said.

 

Source: Associated Press

 

 

 

External control are you gonna let them get you?

Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?

[Guest guest]

Did anyone else catch the special on grizzlies the other night? More

cattlemen whining about those nasty bears and how much money they are

costing them. HELLO, people, when in Rome and all that!

 

Cattlemen whine about the buffalo (bangs) and the wolves and the coyotes and

the bears and DOA and the consumers and Oprah and unfair competition from

Australia and they whine and they whine and they whine.

 

Sheesh, when do they have time to do anything else????

 

Lynda

-

" fraggle " <EBbrewpunx

<jdh_666; <TFHB >;

 

Tuesday, November 01, 2005 10:11 AM

Report Says Keeping Public Lands Open for Grazing

Costs $123 Million a Year

 

 

> Report Says Keeping Public Lands Open for Grazing Costs $123 Million a

> Year

>

> November 01, 2005 â? " By Jennifer Talhelm, Associated Press

> WASHINGTON â? " Federal agencies spend at least $123 million a year to keep

> public lands open to livestock grazing, according to a government report

> that environmentalists say bolsters their argument that grazing should be

> limited.

>

> " If we are going to allow grazing on our public lands, the very least we

> should be doing is we should be recovering the costs, " said Greta

> Anderson, a Tucson, Ariz., botanist and the range restoration campaign

> coordinator for the Center for Biological Diversity.

>

> Jim Hughes, deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management -- which,

> with the Forest Service, manages 98 percent of grazing permits -- said the

> agency charges a fee set by law and is not advocating a change or an

> increase.

>

> " We have many programs that cost us more ... to operate than we take in, "

> Hughes said. " It's never been our mission to be run totally like a

> business. "

>

> Ranching on the millions of acres of public lands has been a mainstay of

> western life for more than a century. Ranchers pay a fee often based on

> the amount of grass and other vegetation their cows will eat. The agencies

> spend the money on managing permits and leases, building fences and

> developing water projects, among other activities.

>

> The arrangement increasingly has caused friction as more demands are put

> on western lands. Environmentalists question whether taxpayers should

> support public lands grazing.

>

> According to the analysis released Monday by the Government Accountability

> Office, grazing fees cover only about a sixth of the cost of managing the

> program.

>

> In 2004, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and several

> other agencies spent $144 million and generated just $21 million from

> grazing fees.

>

> Ranchers who hold public lands grazing permits get a deal, paying as

> little as $1.43 per animal unit month -- the amount of forage a cow and

> her calf can eat in a month -- according to the GAO.

>

> Jeff Eisenberg, executive director of the Public Lands Council, which

> advocates for ranchers, said the numbers in the report don't represent the

> whole picture. The benefits of maintaining a way of life and keeping land

> free from development are difficult to quantify, he said.

>

> Source: Associated Press

>

>

>

> External control are you gonna let them get you?

> Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?

>

>

>

>

>

> To send an email to -

>

[Guest guest]

nope..wot was it on?

haven't been home much lately..

speaking of..

Montana Wildlife Officials Kill Nine Wolves

 

November 01, 2005 — By Becky Bohrer, Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. — Federal wildlife managers killed nine wolves in just over a

month for allegedly attacking or killing livestock in southwest Montana.

 

The wolves were killed between Labor Day and the middle of October on orders of

state wildlife officials. Some of the wolves were blamed for seriously injuring

two dogs that were guarding sheep and for killing several cattle.

 

Carolyn Sime, the state's wolf program coordinator, said Monday that the

response was aggressive but warranted.

 

At the same time, Sime acknowledged mistakes: Two of the wolves killed were off

the grazing allotment where run-ins had been confirmed, and a radio-collared

female not believed to have been involved in killing livestock was shot.

 

The death of the female means the group no longer counts as a breeding pair,

Sime said. This is important because breeding pairs are a key measure of wolf

recovery.

 

Suzanne Asha Stone, of the Defenders of Wildlife, said she would like to see

more emphasis on nonlethal control and for the state to continue encouraging

landowners to adapt to living with wolves.

 

A cattle industry official said the effectiveness of nonlethal measures is

debatable and notes the cost to ranchers. " How would you feel if every week I

went up and took $500 to $600 from your billfold? " asked Steve Pilcher of the

Montana Stockgrowers Association.

 

Source: Associated Press

 

 

Lynda <lurine

Nov 1, 2005 10:17 AM

 

Re: Report Says Keeping Public Lands Open for Grazing

Costs $123 Million a Year

 

Did anyone else catch the special on grizzlies the other night? More

cattlemen whining about those nasty bears and how much money they are

costing them. HELLO, people, when in Rome and all that!

 

Cattlemen whine about the buffalo (bangs) and the wolves and the coyotes and

the bears and DOA and the consumers and Oprah and unfair competition from

Australia and they whine and they whine and they whine.

 

Sheesh, when do they have time to do anything else????

 

Lynda

 

 

External control are you gonna let them get you?

Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?