Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Bill would Provide Cash Option for Grazing Permittees
Contact: Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221

Additional Contacts:

MikeHudak, Sierra Club Grazing Team ● 607/240-5225
BrianErtz, Western Watersheds Project ● 208/830-2120
Josh Osher, BuffaloField Campaign ● 434/227-1212
RoseChilcoat, Great Old Broads for Wilderness ● 970/799-3679

Conservationists hailed the introduction of the RuralEconomic Vitalization Act (H.R. 3432) in Congress today, a bill that wouldallow federal grazing permittees to voluntarily relinquish their grazingpermits back to the managing federal agency in exchange for compensation paidby a third party. The bill was introduced by Representative Adam Smith (D-WA-9^th)and six original cosponsors.

“When enacted, this legislation will helpresolve endless conflict on public lands, while providing ranchers withopportunities to restructure their operations, start new businesses, or retirewith security,” said Mike Hudak, author of WesternTurf Wars: The Politics of Public Lands Ranching and leader of the SierraClub Grazing Team.

Domestic livestock grazing is the most pervasiveand damaging use of federal public lands. On public land across the West,millions of non-native livestock remove and trample vegetation, damage soil,spread invasive weeds, despoil water, deprive native wildlife of forage andshelter, accelerate desertification and even contribute to global warming.

Unfortunately, antiquated federal law generallyprohibits closing grazing allotments to benefit fish, wildlife and watersheds.The Rural Economic Vitalization Act would authorize federal agencies topermanently retire grazing permits if requested by ranchers.

“Grazing permit retirement has been implementedin a few places around the West with marked success, but there is much greaterneed—and demand from ranchers—to retire grazing permits,” said Mark Salvo ofWildEarth Guardians.

One landscape that has benefited from grazing permitretirement is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem where grazing allotments havebeen closed to reduce conflicts with wolves, grizzly bears and bighorn sheep,and to expand winter range for bison outside Yellowstone National Park.Yellowstone bison, the last remaining genetically pure wild herd in the U.S.,are subject to intensive management and control based on the irrational fearthat they will transmit disease to domestic livestock.

“Bison are hazed, captured, shotand slaughtered to protect grazing interests on public land in Yellowstonecountry,” said Josh Osher of the Buffalo Field Campaign. “REVA is the tool weneed to finally, permanently address these conflicts.”

Inaddition to being the source of immeasurable environmental harm, the federal grazingprogram is a fiscal boondoggle for federal taxpayers. The GovernmentAccountability Office reported that the Bureau of Land Management and ForestService annually spend $132.5 million on grazing management, but collect only$17.5 million in grazing fees for a net loss to taxpayers of $115 million.

“Wewant to save public lands and do our part to solve the deficit,” said BrianErtz of Western Watersheds Project. “We just need Congressional approval to buyout willing ranchers and retire their grazing permits.”

Grazing permit retirement is a voluntary, non-regulatory,market-based solution to public lands grazing conflicts. Permittees determine if and when theywant to retire their grazing permits. Permittees and third parties separatelyagree how much a permittee will be paid for relinquishing their permit. And federalagencies facilitate the transaction by immediately retiring grazing permitsreceived from a permittee. The Rural Economic Vitalization Act caps the totalnumber of grazing permits that may be retired each year at 100.

“This is a win-win-win for ranchers, the environment, andtaxpayers,” said Rose Chilcoat of Great Old Broads for Wilderness. “Let’s passthis bill so that we can finally take some common sense steps to ensure healthypublic lands.