Dear HCN,
The controversy over
livestock grazing on public lands is not merely a contest between
ranchers and environmentalists.
Any substantial
changes in federal grazing policy affect us all. And that is why
I’m afraid that our senior U.S. senator has misplaced his
priorities in his Livestock Grazing Act (S.
852).
I say this reluctantly because Sen.
Domenici has done many good things in the 23 years he’s been in
Washington. But he’s apparently lost touch with what’s important in
the day-to-day lives of most New Mexicans on this
issue.
This regrettable bill is the usual
out-of-touch, politics-of-polarization Washington formula, intended
to score political points by pitting two camps against each other.
It:
* Mocks the federal concept of multiple use
by elevating grazing to a status higher than every other use, and
places livestock operators in a position to enforce that preference
by excluding other uses like recreation;
*
Prevents federal land managers from stopping abuse of public lands
until “permanent” damage is confirmed, which by definition is too
late;
* Offers no incentives for good ranching
practices (our State Land Office reduces fees for quality range
operations);
* Elevates a lessee’s past grazing
activities from a privilege on the public’s land to a “historical
grazing preference right’ – an undefined, exclusive authority that
could not be restricted without the threat of
litigation;
* Gives permittees inappropriate
control over hunters’ access to big game and other wildlife;
and
* Hides the exclusion of the public in
multiple levels of industry-dominated advisory councils and
committees in every state. More bureaucracy controlled by special
interests is hardly what the American people
want.
Furthermore, this bill does little to help
public-lands ranchers survive in the long run. It does not address
the underlying economic factors that have already forced many New
Mexico ranchers to get day jobs. It does not deter ranch
corporations, very rich individuals or foreign investors from
gobbling up lands and leases, driving family operations out of
business. It provides no opportunities for communities to diversify
their economies or otherwise remain healthy and
viable.
I understand that Sen. Domenici will
attempt to modify this bill before it goes much further through the
Senate. I believe this bill is defective and major changes would
still leave us with a bad law.
Ray
Powell
Santa Fe, New
Mexico
Ray Powell is New
Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands, an elected
position.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline New Mexico’s senator’s grazing bill is out of touch.
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