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Show Nonsense, say lawyers for the conservation groups. They claim that Wyatt's goal is to wrest possession of grazing rights, away from the coalition through the courts, rather than entering the standard application process with the BLM. ’ Currently through private land ownership, federal and state grazing permits, and an arrangement with the Ute Indians, Wyatt and his Alameda Corporation control about reports that the Nature Conservancy had worked in the state with other agencies before but, "this was our largest involvement in a landscape scale effort." "We thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to try to accomplish some good conservation at the same time you were enhancing some grazing operations," Montague says. The initiative created "the possibility for a better balance of wildlife and grazing in a 350,000 acres in eastern Utah. An absentee, pretty big area by working corporate rancher like Wyatt has not been typical in the Book Cliffs. Local ranchers ation,” he explained. have grazed cattle in the area for over a hun- dred years. By the late 1980s, with herds from four ranches competing along with elk over diminishing forage, all four were in trouble and put their ranches and permits on the market. "It had to be either fewer cattle or fewer elk because it was too many,” remem- Through the early “90s the Elk Foundation and the Nature Conservancy bought one ranch each and together with the Division of Wildlife Resources bought a third ranch adjacent to the project area. The initiative aimed for a 50 percent reduction in livestock grazing by transferring some permits to temporary non-use status. Montague says that the bers Burt DeLambert, the one local rancher who ultimately held onto his Book Cliffs Conservancy operation. DeLambert, "There wasn't any extra feed here in the market- place without damaging anybody elsefs oper- worked — with arranging for him Nature rancher to use of and it just kept tightening up.” While the uplands were in satisfactory some of the Conservancy's grazing permits and thereby spread out his cattle over more condition, the canyon bottoms, streams and area without increasing his herd. riparian areas were not. A century of heavy grazing had severely damaged the bottoms which were heavily used by cattle as well as wildlife. Vegetation along stream banks had been stripped away causing erosion. The water quality had declined and the water table had lowered. With all the ranches on the block, the BLM and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources joined with the two conservation groups in the conservation initiative, a project. affecting 500,000 acres. Montague Walter Donaldson of Wildlife Resources a better condition able to wildlife and livestock." Thereis already been some good progress made, according to Montague. “The range condition has improved. The riparian areas have somewhat recovered. The wildlife is in Bert DeLambertis it was before." Though rehabilitation continues, the coalition members consider the initiative to be completed. The next stage is developing a long term plan for BLM. The goal is to involve many different interest groups to create a workable blueprint for multiple use of the Book Cliffs. The large planning committee includes environmentalists, guides and outfitters, oil and gas company reps, Ute Indian leaders, county commissioners, ranchers, hunters, fishery managers, and others. In addition, in March, BLM held open public forums to get even While his ranch more input. manager participates regu- larly as a member of the planning committee, Oscar Wyatt is pursuing litigation that could reverse rehabilitation efforts. And Wyatt is used to getting his way. Besides outbidding the conservation initiative members for his Book Cliffs ranch in 1994, he’s famous for taking his disputes Texas for being ruthless. He built his fortune in the oil business. According to < 1991 profile in Vanity Fair, Wyatt started a: a wildcatter in the 1950s, selling his Ford fo: $800 to buy a six-acre lease. Over the decades that followed he built major oil company, the Houston-basec Coastal Corporation. Along the way he dic whatever was necessary to succeed, includins conducting hostile takeovers, bringin, umpteen lawsuits, pouring money into polit ical campaigns against unfriendly judges and cozying up to dictators Muammar Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein. During the build-up to the Gulf War while other oil companies cut off communications with the Iraqis, Wyatt spoke out against American involvement. He even flew to Baghdad in December 1990. He says his purpose was to negotiate the release of hostages and his visit did result in 22 Americans going free. In Houston, though, some people believed that Wyatt's main purpose was to shore up his relationship with Hussein. into court. Wyatt, age 72, is well known in Fony's = SSNET OSS says, "we have initiated rehabilitation on close to 900 acres of greasewood, which is vegetation that is not palatable or the best for big game. 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