Despite requests for yet another delay by Western
senators plus a lawsuit from the livestock industry, Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt traveled to Grand Junction, Colo., Aug. 22
to launch the first phase of his grazing reform.
Accompanied by Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, Babbitt
announced members of three Resource Advisory Councils in Colorado,
where ranchers, environmentalists and government officials first
recommended the creation of locally based groups. Smiling and
upbeat, Babbitt said, “This is a momentous day. We are beginning a
new chapter on range issues in the West.” He divided council
members equally among commodity groups, environmental and
non-commodity interests, and state and local government
representatives. They will advise the Bureau of Land Management on
mining, timber and recreation as well as grazing.
However, Congress could still put its own stamp
on range reform, a point underscored by T. Wright Dickenson, a
rancher and council appointee from Maybell, Colo. “Bruce, we’re
going to get Congress to convey all BLM lands back to the states,”
Dickenson told Secretary Babbitt. “Be my guest,” Babbitt responded,
“but in the meantime, let’s work together.”
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Rick Keister
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Babbitt begins range reform.
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