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Show Jim Randall and Larry Mclntyre examine soil for recent moisture intake. Sporadic area thunderstorms have resulted in increased moisture, but the soil does not By Curt Stewart Range management, a subject sub-ject which has caused recent controversy here is a complicated compli-cated business. Especially if the range lands in question have been in a drought condition condi-tion for up to three years. Recently the BLM has come under fire from area ranchers because of the need to close off grazing on some public rangelands. These areas or allotments as they are referred referr-ed to by the BLM are public lands and they belong to all. The allotments are rented to the rancher or "permitee," and for a fee based on the number of stock he choses to run on the allotment, the stockman is able to use. this public land in conjunction with his own private land. Recently letters were sent to permitees in the area stating that due to the drought condition here in Southeastern Utah some rangelands were going to be closed off for grazing, the reason being, that there is simply not enough growing to sustain sheep or cattle, and to graze on rangelands already deficient from the drought would damage the range further. fur-ther. The reaction to the BLM letters was the reason Del Backus, Area Manager in the Moab area asked the Times-Independent Times-Independent to come along on a routine allotmentment inspection. in-spection. Mr. Backus felt that if the public could see the problem from both sides, it would help clear up the notion that the BLM was acting unfairly, or that it was just another instance of a federal agency taking away public lands from the public. Reassessment Backus said that many ranchers felt that the recent moisture received here has resulted in the greening up of their allotments. The BLM had made inspections in July, the results of which prompted the closure of some, and reduction of use in the others. In response to the ranchers complaints, reassessment was being done on allotments. These studies will continue until the decisions will be made before the grazing season sea-son begins in November. Backus added that decisions made by the BLM are subject to appeal. Jim Randall, range specialist special-ist in charge of field operations opera-tions of the range program, is part of the team that makes these inspections to find out just what the condition is of the range allotments. Randall pointed out that there is more green along the road, and that some area allotments are indeed in-deed greening up. However, he said most of the green is Russian Thistle, and while Russian Thistle provides good feel for livestock, it also uses soil nutrients, and is a sign of range overuse and disturbance. distur-bance. "It's the kind of plant we don't want." Randall said. Some Severely Affected As we drove along some rangeland, we inspected allotments allot-ments that were severely affected by the drought. Normally bushy plants, had little or no new growth, and there was virtually no sign of the grasses greening, or showing any growth for this growing season. We visited another allotment that was drought stricken last year, and was grazed anyway. The result of which resembled a moonscape, and would take several years to reclaim, virtually vir-tually making the land useless for anything, let alone grazing for years to come. The inspection made on this particular day, was on the Sari Arroyo allotment, which took us across the state line into retain much. BLM Area Range Manager Del Backus examines bush in background. BLM reviewing grazing cuts in liqht of recent rainfall Colorado. The permitee, Larry Lar-ry Mclntyre, of Mclntyre Livestock was there to go along on the inspection. When asked by Jim Randall how his allotment looked, he said "not real good." Mclntyre, a stockman stock-man all of his life, conceded that things were bad, but did point out that things were indeed greening up. He was hoping that more moisture in the coming months would greatly increase the feed on the allotment, but who can predict the weather? Jim Randall agreed that things were looking better since his last inspection, but all in all it was pretty dry, and Mclntyre and Randall both agreed, there was little hope of grazing graz-ing his sheep on the flats. We proceeded up to the high country of his allotment, and there was evidence-, of greening, and ample bush for feed, and there was little or no sign of overgrazing this year. Larry Mclntyre expressed that he would like to run two bands or 2600 sheep in the ' high country. Jim Randall thought perhaps this was too many and wrote up an agreement agree-ment which stated 1300 sheep could be run on the high country, and that no grazing be allowed on the flats but with a stipulation, that if Mclntyre thought ample moisture mois-ture was taken in during the next month or two, he could call for a reassessment, to which Randall agreed. Mclntyre Mcln-tyre thought that was fair, and signed the agreement. Jim Randall thought it was a fair agreement for both the stockman, and the public domain, do-main, which is his charge. As he stated "we don't want to put anyone out of business," that's not the purpose of the , BLM range management program, pro-gram, the purpose is to pro- ! vide healthy rangelands for ; the rancher and for future j generations of ranchers, with- ; ; out proper range maintenance this could not be possible. |