With little fanfare, the Bureau of Land Management
released “final” livestock grazing regulations Feb. 17. The new
regulations look much like those forwarded in a draft last spring,
with the glaring exception of grazing fees, which Department of
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt dropped from his Rangeland Reform
package shortly before Christmas (HCN, 1/23/95). Environmentalists
say the new regulations continue to rely too heavily on local
advisory boards and fail to address such issues as the suitability
of lands for grazing and the need for national standards for land
restoration and management. Nonetheless, they worry that some
Western members of Congress will eviscerate what’s left of the
regulations before the August deadline for implementation. Wyoming
Rep. Craig Thomas, R, has indicated that he may step up to the
plate. “What I don’t see in this plan is a tone of partnership,” he
said in a news release. “… Babbitt still has all the reins, still
has control of the advisory groups that ultimately pull the
strings.” Environmentalists may not have the firepower to fight off
legislative attacks. Says Fran Hunt of the Wilderness Society,
“It’s almost impossible to focus on grazing reform when a guy like
(Utah Rep.) Jim Hansen is trying to dismantle national parks and
give BLM lands back to the states.”
*Paul
Larmer
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Back to grazing reform … maybe.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
