In an unorthodox move, the U.S. Air Force plans to
offer an Idaho rancher around $1 million to turn his grazing
allotment into a bombing range.
The deal, which
was added to the defense appropriations bill by Idaho Republican
Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, would pull Bert Brackett’s cattle off 12,000
acres of Bureau of Land Management land. In return, Brackett would
get fencing and water facilities on a new allotment, in addition to
getting first call on a possible future re-lease of the old
allotments. He would also get a sum equal to the value of his
cattle and his profit – an amount which Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.,
estimates to be as much as $1 million over a decade. Wyden opposes
the plan.
An Air Force spokesman says the
military chose Brackett’s 12,000-acre allotment because he was the
only rancher there. The Air Force set the full value of Brackett’s
operation as the fee, adds Lt. Tom Lilly, to make sure he can keep
his operation.
Wyden says the bill sets a
dangerous precedent, treating grazing permits as a right instead of
a privilege. Lisa Shultz of the Wilderness Society agrees.
“Brackett’s getting paid for something he didn’t lose,” she
says.
Even Brackett doesn’t like the deal. “We
have everything to lose and little to gain,” he explains, doubting
the new grazing allotment will compare to the old. His family has
grazed cows in the general area since before he was born, and he
hopes his children will continue to ranch
there.
The Senate approved the bill and the House
will discuss it in December.
* Taffeta
Elliott
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Air Force drops a sweetheart deal onto ranch land.
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