THIS GRAZING BILL
IS A
DISASTER
On May 25, New Mexico
Sen. Pete Domenici introduced the Livestock Grazing Act (HCN,
6/12/95). The bill would overturn Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt’s Rangeland Reform proposal. The following is a letter to
Sen. Domenici from longtime Arizona activist Steve
Johnson.
Dear Sen.
Domenici:
I am completely sincere in my belief
that it is possible to allow livestock to graze much of our public
lands, but your bill is not the way to go. If it should become law,
the abuses it would codify would do more to move us toward a
complete end to public livestock grazing than anything I have yet
seen. SB 852 plays into the hands of the extremists who want to see
all grazing of public lands stopped. Instead of stabilizing the
livestock industry, it would do just the
opposite.
You were quoted as saying that the
BLM’s new grazing regulations that would take effect Aug. 22 are
“onerous.” Please tell me exactly to what provisions you are
referring. The Range Reform “94 process, in which thousands of
ranchers, hunters, fishers, conservationists and other concerned
citizens participated, gave everyone a place at the table. The
final product, in my opinion, was a definite compromise toward the
ranchers’ positions.
In contrast to the slow and
agonizing democratic process of Westwide hearings on range reform,
SB 852 leaves no room for the public. It would lock out the public,
make cattle king, prevent public access to our own lands, and
legalize lawless acts such as no penalties for failure to pay
grazing fees.
According to statistics developed
by the U.S. Department of Commerce, income from cattle and sheep in
New Mexico is less than 1 percent of the total state income from
all sources. Although your state is growing, cattle and sheep
income is small and getting smaller, as it is all over the West. SB
852, by shielding a very few ranchers from economic and ecological
reality, prevents them from improving their operations so that they
can survive.
In my opinion, SB 852 furnishes
public land ranchers with a bucket of sand in which to hide their
heads, while they foolishly hope what they refuse to recognize will
go away.
Steve
Johnson
Tucson,
Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline This grazing bill is a disaster.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
