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Show Cattlemen live in "hostile environment," Garn warns state convention f Cattlemen and others who favor productive use of public lands "live in a hostile political environment," environ-ment," U.S. Senator Jake Garn (R-Utah) warned the Annual Convention of the Utah Cattlemen's Association Asso-ciation Friday. In prepared remarks, Utah's senior senator noted that the Carter Administration "is full of individuals who do not understand the pressures that face cattlemen and producers in general, and who are dedicated to the proposition that productive produc-tive use of the public lands is destructive of 'higher' values." As an example of the "anti-producer bias that infects the federal establishment," estab-lishment," the senator cited the fact that Congress Con-gress in 1976 explicitly required that grazing permits per-mits be for 10 years, except for "extraordinary instances" where shorter leases might be in the national interest. "The'Secretary of Interior Inter-ior turned Coneress' in- tent on its head, issuing only one-year leases because be-cause they were ostensibly ostensi-bly in the national interest," inter-est," Garn noted. , The senator said new grazing fee legislation passed this year will restore the original intent of Congress, "but we need to remain forwarned and vigilant against bureaucratic bu-reaucratic attempts to dodge the will of Congress." Con-gress." Commenting further on grazing fees, Garn said the new legislation is generally favorable to cattle growers but he also urged caution. "For. the first time," he said, "the fee system will be tied to price indexes, so that the costs of production produc-tion will be taken into account in setting fees. In the past, upward pressure of fees in the face of falling prices has crushed the growers between two millstones, making for an erratic market and uncertain uncer-tain supplies." In urging the cattlemen to exercise caution, Garn said "the dedication of the federal government to what bureaucrats call 'fair market value' for public grazing lands remains as strong as ever. Comparing the values of public and private range as a basis for establishing grazing fees is impossible, but the Interior Department and the Forest Service rarely seem able to grasp that point. "Consequently," he said, "I predict further tension and disagreement between your interest and those of the federal bureaucrats," he said. Garn said he continues to favor legislation to "loosen the federal stranglehold stran-glehold on the state's public lands in order to allow responsible development develop-ment of mineral and energy resources." He noted that legislation he introduced last February -- requiring the federal government to return all public lands to the states "succeeded in arousing the public and sending a signal to federal bureaucrats bureau-crats that enough is enough. "My general philoso phy is that land management manage-ment can be best exercised exer-cised by the government close to the people," he said. "Through my legislation, legis-lation, I challenged the present trend that lani management can be doni best from Washington an 0v I intend to continue thoten fight in the next Con'ldg gress." j se |