Save the Grand Staircase/Escalante NM

[Guest guest]

WILDALERT

Tuesday, February 26, 2002

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Dear WildAlert Subscriber,

 

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument urgently needs your

help. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) monument staff is

proposing to close several areas to grazing because local ranchers

agreed to " retire " their grazing permits and have sold them to an

environmental group, the Grand Canyon Trust. This is a win-win

situation for the land and the ranchers. Unfortunately, some local

residents are vigorously opposing the proposals. The BLM needs to

hear from you that it is doing the right thing in allowing the

voluntary closure of parts of the monument to grazing. Send a

letter to the BLM on or before Thursday, February 28, 2002:

http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2 & item=1144

 

BACKGROUND

BLM is proposing to close a portion of the Last Chance grazing

allotment and all of the Big Bowns Bench grazing allotment to

livestock grazing in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National

Monument. (An allotment is an area of land leased for livestock

grazing.) These areas have outstanding wilderness qualities -- the

17,000-acre Big Bowns Bench area is within the North Escalante

Canyons/The Gulch Wilderness Study Area and most of the 91,400 acres

in the Last Chance area that would be closed are in Wilderness Study

Areas or have been found by BLM to have wilderness character. BLM

has already closed other parts of the monument to grazing and will

likely propose closing more if unfounded local opposition doesn't

prevent it.

 

A WINNER FOR THE LAND

Closing portions of the monument to grazing would allow for

improvements in the quality of streams, vegetation, soil, and

wildlife habitat as well as help protect archeological sites from

trampling by cows. Mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and other

wildlife will enjoy more and better forage because they will not

have to compete with cattle. And recreation opportunities in these

areas will improve because the areas will look more natural and

conflicts with cattle at watering holes, for shade, and on trails

along streams will be reduced.

 

AND A WINNER FOR THE RANCHERS

The ranchers (also known as permitees) willingly sold their permits

to graze cattle in the monument to the Grand Canyon Trust in order

for the areas to be closed and they were paid a good price. Since

1999, the Grand Canyon Trust has spent nearly $1.1 million to

acquire and retire grazing rights in the monument. While these

retirements reduce slightly the total number of cattle grazed in the

monument, they increase the profitability of livestock operations

because the permits are sold willingly for a fair price.

 

ECONOMICS FAVOR CLOSURE

Some people in the towns surrounding the monument oppose reducing

grazing in the monument, arguing that it would devastate the local

economy. This simply isn't true. All told, the grazing rights

purchased by the Grand Canyon Trust make up just 13 percent of the

grazing in the monument. And those permits generated only $13,650

per year in receipts to the federal treasury and only $1,706 per

year directly back to the counties. In addition, there will be " no

net loss of grazing " from these retirements. All of the ranchers

who sold grazing permits to the Trust have indicated to the BLM they

will continue to graze the same number of cattle in others areas of

the counties surrounding the monument.

 

TAKE ACTION

Now is the time to let the BLM know you support the closure of Big

Bowns Bench and the Last Chance area to livestock grazing along with

other actions to retire grazing permits in the Grand Staircase-

Escalante National Monument. Comments to the BLM are due on or

before Thursday, February 28, 2002. Send a letter to the BLM from:

http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2 & item=1144

or write the BLM directly with these points:

 

-- The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a national

treasure. If you have been to the monument or hope some day to

visit, tell the BLM about why you value this special place.

 

-- Closing 91,412 acres of the Last Chance area and 17,083 acres of

the Big Bowns Bench area would enhance protection of both the

ecological values and the archeological resources the monument was

created to protect.

 

-- These areas have outstanding wilderness qualities. The 17,000-

acre Big Bowns Bench area is within the North Escalante Canyons/The

Gulch Wilderness Study Area and most of the 91,400 acres in the Last

Chance area that would be closed are in Wilderness Study Areas or

have been found by BLM to have wilderness character.

 

-- Putting these areas off-limits to cattle grazing will protect and

enhance the health of the land within the monument, especially the

lands along the monument's streams, and reduce conflicts between

livestock grazing and other uses of the land, including recreation.

 

-- The BLM should reallocate the grass in these areas from livestock

grazing to wildlife, to reduce competition for food between cattle

and deer, pronghorn, big horn sheep and other animals.

 

-- Economics favor these proposals. These proposals are a win-win

situation for the BLM, the land users and the land. The ranchers

who ran cows on these areas have voluntarily given up their permits

and have been compensated by a conservation organization.

 

-- Thank BLM for these proposals and urge the agency to move quickly

to implement these and other voluntary grazing retirements within

the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

 

Send your letter to:

Thom O'Dell

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

190 E. Center Street

Kanab, UT 84741

Fax: 435-644-4350