Show m r i r i ii i y Western i r u P 7 W WRAP WRAP-UP RAP U P 1 i M MII II Public land By Helene C Vernal Express Washington Correspondent Washington The Interior Department plans to ask Congress early next year to allow a grazing on public land to receive credit toward his grazing fee by feeby putting range Improvements on his allotment Additionally the Department plans to ask Congress to provide other incentives to o and others to make range improvements These incentives could Include such things as Assigning a higher priority to a range Improvement that a or ora ora a state fish and game department may want to make on public grazing land Allocating forage increases to per per- which res result from their contributions contributions to Improve the range Improving the tenure by assuring him a right to renewal of his permit as long as he lives up to his agree agreement ment with the federal land management agency which is the Bureau of Land Management at Interior Allowing more flexibility to a per per- in operating his spread and removing tight constraints by the fells feds on the who pays for range improvements Billing a after the grazing season Is over the use he has actually made of the range Such changes have been recommend recommend- recommended ed to Interior by the General Accounting Office GAO and they would require an amendment of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 according to David P Tidwell a special assistant to Director Robert F Burford who has been working on the range Improvement problem We feel the latest GAO report on public rangeland improvements Is the finest that GAO has ever done on the sub sub- subject It will be very helpful to us In making mak- mak making ing our recommendations to Congress next year Tidwell told Western Resources Wrap Wrap-up on Nov 16 Tidwells Tidwell's reaction was unusual as the federal are generally cool to toGAO toGAO GAO reports In this case GAO and were working toward the thEl same goal bet bet- better better ter range With many of the same strategies in mind according to Tidwell GAO REPORT FINDINGS The GAO re report rt published op 1 Oct ct 14 on public rangel rangeland nd improvements con con- concluded concluded that upgrading the public range is a slow costly process in need of alter alter- alternate alternate nate funding GAO studied the million acres of public rangeland under management In 16 western states Arizona California Colorado Idaho Kansas Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico North Dakota Oklahoma Oregon South Dakota Utah Washington and Wyoming There are g I permits or leases on this land I The GAO report did not include the grazing lands managed by other federal es est but the US Forest orest Service also also manages a lot of public rang rangeland was asked to comment on the GAO GAG report Although Congress passed In 1976 and the Public Rangelands Im provement Act In 1978 to improve the federal rangelands and make themas productive as s has been slow and costly GAO said Most of the rangelands are In an unsatisfactory unsatisfactory tory condition and producing less than their potential GAO reported citing several recent studies done by and others This is partially due to the long land land- planning and impact environmental statement process which started a decade ago and will not be completed un- un until til 1988 However important this work is for term long management of the public range it has taken needed fed federal ral funds away from the ground range Im- Im Improvements improvements It told GAO but only 22 million worth of Improvements had been Installed from 81 1978 and there is already a million backlog GAO found at the 1981 funding level of 8 million it would take more th than n 20 years well Into the next century century- before the needed work could be com com- completed completed Meanwhile costs are rising Ising EXPERIMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM Both the GAO report and livestock groups have been critical of the length of time It has taken the Interior Depart Depart- Department Department ment and and the Agriculture Department and the Forest Service to in- in initiate initiate the experimental stewardship pro pro- program program gram authorized under Section 12 of the 1978 Range Improvement Act It Is designed to explore innovative grazing management policies and systems In- In Including Including cooperative projects between the agencies and the range users payment of up to 50 percent of a grazing graz- graz grazing ing fee In the form of range improvement work and other incentives to a permit permit- tee tee to carry out range Improvements on his own time and with his own equipment and funds Three have been established Challis in Idaho East Pioneer In Montana and Washoe Modoc-Washoe In California and Nevada but none had Implemented the grazing fee Incentive as of August 1982 GAO reported told GAO it h had d established experimental stewardship programs with one In each of the five resource areas In New Mexico but GAO and livestock critics have ques- ques questioned questioned the adequacy of such a small sample The only joint stewardship area presently authorized to test the reduced fee Incentive is the Washoe Modoc-Washoe area which is due to start testing it in 1983 with the beginning of the grazing year Tidwell told on Nov he Forest Service was cooperating and the local Washoe Modoc-Washoe experiment and that a com com- completed m- m report which finalized it was c In the area last week and Is being sent In to Washington for final review review directly Land managers In the past have been en reluctant to allow to make range Improvements because of their impact on tenure was told the Forest Service was brought kicking and screaming Into this experiment nt Guidelines and controls have been carefully built Into the Was Modoc-Was Modoc i oe experiment told GAO GAO questioned the length of ti time e It has taken to test the in in- in incentive experiment authorized in the act In light of Interest In it GAO sent out a questionnaire to holders of Bureau grazing permits and leases both large holding permits to graze or more animal unit months and small Our cOur questionnaire results Indicated that 61 percent of the small and 82 percent of the large would make range improvement Im- Im Improvement provement Investments if they received a 50 percent credit against their grazing fees GAO reported It observed this would not be done without controversy If receive fee reductions in return for range Improvement work grazing receipts deposited to the US Treasury and distributed to the states could be reduced reduced ed However may be able to tomake tomake make improvements faster and at less cost than the government which could lower the total investment needed to in- in install install stall range Improvements GAO said in its report The other side of the coin is that delay in making the improvements isn't help help- helping tog ing the land GAO said It quoted an un- un unnamed unnamed named California official who pointed out that failure to make Im- Im Improvements improvements Is not only reducing livestock grazing opportunities but c could uld also result in loss of soil through ero- ero erosion eroSion sion reduced plant life loss of wildlife populations increase In threatened and endangered wildlife and plant species pollution of water sources by and reduced aquifer recharge because of accelerated surface runoff GRAZING FEE BOOST Other alternatives to allowing permit permit- tees to make range improvements with witha a credit against their grazing fees are In- In Increased Increased creased funding from the government which does not appear practicable at this time of budget tightening budget tightening on domestic programs and raising the grazing fee GAO said Although GAO said Its questionnaires indicated considerable opposition to higher fees by public land the grazing fee question is under active study The formula in hi the 1978 act is bas bas- based based ed on livestock production costs is operative for only a year seven trial period and has been going down in reo re- re recent cent years because of higher production costs and lower livestock prices It is cur cur- currently currently per animal unit month AUM down substantially from the fee per AUM In 1980 Bureau grazing receipts have dropped from in 1980 to an estimated for the 1982 grazing year GAO cited fee Increases on private lands and state lands adjacent to public rangeland Edward Frandsen of the Forest Ser Ser- Service vice told on Nov 16 the joint study on grazing fees now being done by his agency and will be completed in time for the new Congress In January 1985 A public hearing on this study will willbe willbe be held here on Nov 29 at 1030 am Frandsen said |