When the Bureau of Land Management reduced grazing fees to the lowest permitted level in January, the announcement elicited indignation from Wilderness Society (WS) representatives. "The drop in fees . . . pretty much guarantees the continued destruction of our public lands from excessive grazing," said WS's Bureau of Land Management Director, Fran Hunt.

If WS research has not overlooked other statistical evidence, continued grazing subsidies mean continued degradation of America's forests and rangeland. WS's reading of sources like the "Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Rangeland Reform '94" (Departments of the Interior and Agriculture) and "Public Rangelands: Some Riparian Areas Restored But Widespread Improvement Will Be Slow" (U.S. General Accounting Office) concludes "only about one-half of the 160 million acres grazed by livestock are in an acceptable or 'functioning' condition" and almost 70 percent of grazed riparian areas are "damaged."

Why? The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service are--by regulation--required to recalculate grazing fees each year, factoring in the price of beef and production costs, but not the price grazing privileges would fetch on the open market (more than $10). Grazing fees on public lands will drop from $1.61 to $1.35 per Animal Unit Months (AUM) in 1996; nevertheless, the Wilderness Society estimates direct and associated expense to support grazing subsidies from the national treasury varies from $300-500 million annually, . . . not to mention the ecological expense to our national treasures.

If you are inclined to write to your Congressional representative about Sen. Pete Domenici's (R-NM) "Public Rangelands Management Act" (S. 1459), which would set fees of about $1.70 AUM--Hunt calculates to the actual average fee at $1.85 AUM for the last seven years--or voice your opinion about why the National Parks budgets are being cut instead of budgets for administrating grazing subsidies, you may first want to read the WS Fact Sheet debunking grazing benefits: "Great Grazing Myths: A Reality Check" is available by calling (202) 833-2300. Fran Hunt may be contacted directly at (202) 429-2657.

After our coverage of parks and rangeland issues (December 1995, page 14), LASN received several requests for more info. Thanks for your feedback.

Photo of cattle TK/caption: Where's the beef? "The only thing federal grazing fees have in common with the free market is the word free," said Wilderness Society's Bureau of Land Management Director Hunt of policies that subsidize the nation's cattle industry at the expense of the environment.

Various photos of horses grazing/caption:

Critics of federal grazing policies have since drawn a connection between overgrazing, which can quickly degrade habitat, and the subsequent fast growth Californians experience as "the red tile roof syndrome."

Photo of a 70's development/caption: In San Diego County, CA cattle previously roamed these hills above "Bonita Highlands" (pictured in the mid-1970's) when "seldom [was] heard a discouraging word" about grazing.