| OCR Text |
Show End Of Cattle Grazing Announced On 22,000 Acres Of Capitol Reef CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK Capitol Reef National Park Superintendent Martin C. Ott has announced the termination of cattle grazing on more than 22,000 acres of park land. Ott said that four ranchers have sold public land grazing allotments to the National Park Service (NPS), allotments that had existed under Bureau of Land Management control long before Capitol Reef National Park was established in 1971. Three allotments were purchased in their entirety (Chimney Canyon, Waterpocket, and Muley Twist), along with significant portions of P two other allotments. All of the allotment areas acquired have been the subject of long-term NPS management concern because of resource re-source impacts and visitor use conflicts. con-flicts. The NPS acquisition of pre-park establishment grazing privileges on a negotiated "willing buyer-willing seller" basis is a new initiative for resolving decades of confrontation over Capitol Reef grazing. Typically, Typi-cally, the protagonists in the face off have been the NPS and environmental envi-ronmental groups on one side and local ranchers and their support groups (like the Utah Farm Bureau) on the other. Ott has compaigned energetically for a non confrontational confronta-tional resolution of the park grazing graz-ing controversy since assuming his position in August 1987 and has earned strong support in the endeavor from his Denver-based NPS supervisor, Rocky Mountain Regional Director L. Lorraine Mintzmyer. Ott, from Tropic, feels he understands un-derstands the strong position taken by stockmen in the past who feared the gradual shrinkage of public lands available for grazing. He has talked at length with ranchers and others who support their position and is confident that both ranchers and the NPS have gained valuable insights regarding resolution of the long-standing controversy. Ott is quick to point out that even the purchase of the allotments described above would not have been possible possi-ble without the good will and active ac-tive support of many ranchers and their friends. The NPS estimates that it would take less than $175,000 to purchase the remaining Capitol Reef allotments and that it might be less expensive than further sci- entific studies and long, drawn-out legislative battles. "The NPS is committed to the eventual phase out of all grazing in the park," Ott said, "but this seems an equitable way of helping achieve that goal without further erosion of NPS-rancher NPS-rancher relations." Recognizing that some ranchers holding Capitol Reef grazing allotments might be concerned about allotment security if they Choose not to sell, Utah Senator Jake Garn, with the backing of Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Represen-tative James Hansen, is in the process pro-cess of introducing legislation to provide a choice for remaining permittees. The legislation would allow allotment holders to choose either to sell or retain allotments. If the holder decided to retain his allotment, al-lotment, both he and his immediate, immedi-ate, next generation sons and daughters would have custody as long as they lived. Upon all their deaths, the allotment privileges would be terminated without compensation. |
