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Show BLMSays: It's About Poor Stewardship I have read with interest the various media accounts about the trespass cattle situation on public land in the Grand Staircase-Escalante Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Past stories have contained numerous perspectives and bits and pieces of information, but I don't believe they've really addressed the heart of the matter. The vast majority of ranchers who graze on BLM lands are good stewards. - Their efforts in response to last summer's drought were especially laudable. But unfortunately we have a few isolated problem areas where the livestock operators are not living up to the provisions of their grazing permits or commitment to responsibly graze in a manner that sustains the range. From a Bureau perspective, the best way to remedy this situation is to follow through with the provisions outlined in our existing grazing regulations and policies designed to address this type of problem. These are the same grazing rules for all public lands, including the Grand Staircase-Escalante Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is imperative that our efforts to apply our normal grazing policies not be frustrated, and we succeed. I truly believe this is in the best interests of all parties involved. A fair and expeditious resolution to this unfortunate situation is important to all public land users, but perhaps especially to the livestock operators who play by the rules and demonstrate good stewardship. This is the main point covered in the enclosed guest editorial that I sincerely hope you will consider publishing as an op-ed piece. As I endeavored to develop this discussion, I have been mindful to . touch upon a few of the timely issues such as impoundment authority, due process procedures and proposals to rectify any misunderstandings between the BLM and the state brand inspector, that I thought would be of particular interest to your readers who have been following this story. Thank you for your time and consideration. Application of normal grazing rules is the best way to solve the cattle trespass problem . . . The on-going brouhaha over trespass cattle in the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument has little to do with rugged western individualism or anyone's freedom to exercise grazing privileges on the public domain. And frankly, it has nothing to do with the Monument designation BLM would take action in this kind of drought emergency anywhere on public lands. What's really at issue here is poor stewardship. And to be even more direct, a rare but still very disappointing instance of a couple of livestock operators failing to live up to the terms and conditions of grazing permits they signed and agreed to follow. The catalyst for this cow controversy was drought. By the middle of last summer, grazing reductions were necessary on 240 BLM grazing allotments about one-third of summer graziers throughout the state. Even though (See LETTERS on page 9-A) LETTERS From Page 2-A financial hardships were often involved, it is important to note that in nearly every instance grazing adjustments were voluntarily accepted by livestock permittees. These good stewards were doing what was needed to be done because they care about the land and they care about their own bottom line and they understand the relationship between the two. This type of cooperation is indicative of most of ranchers who graze BLM lands in Utah. Unfortunately however, we currently have two notable exceptions to this rule. They involve the Mudholes and Lake grazing allotments located in the Fifty Mile Mountain region of the Monument. Despite the illogic of maintaining livestock on ranges where water and forage were depleted, the permittees resisted our requests for them to bring their cattle home. Despite many notices, orders to remove, and offers to help over a several month period during the summer, all the cattle were not taken off drought-stricken rangelands. Left with no recourse, BLM finally began impounding cattle on October 17. It is important to note that this is after the date cattle are to be off, even under their normal grazing season. Though impoundment of cattle is a very rare occurrence, and is used only as a last resort, BLM has taken this action in the past in both Utah and several neighboring states. I'm convinced that not only were our Fifty Mile Mountain impoundments justified, they were absolutely necessary to get most of the cattle off in any kind of reasonable time frame that responded to the drought emergency. Even though some cattle remain in trespass today, approximately 90 percent of the cattle have been taken off. This would not have happened without impoundment. Some have raised what they perceive as legal questions concerning impoundment procedures, claiming there has been a lack of due process. The impoundment procedures we followed are outlined in regulation and have been consistently upheld in the courts. These regulations contain a number of due process steps. They include being served with timely and proper notice, opportunity to negotiate and settle, and a provision for appeal of BLM decisions before an administrative judge. If these remedies fail to satisfy, the individual always has the right to sue. But putting aside the legal questions that some have raised and only focusing on the land management and grazing administration part of the equation, I'd like to share a couple of thoughts regarding what is needed to resolve this issue. First, the remaining trespass cows must be removed. Period. The best way to clean the slate, is for the permittees to go get their own cattle. That's been our consistent message from the beginning. Currently, the BLM is preparing to remove any remaining trespass cattle in the most safe and efficient means available to us. Second, we will take a hard look at how these allotments need to be managed in the future. After the cows are removed, we will conduct a thorough assessment of range conditions and management options. Several issues have been raised by the permittees themselves related to the difficulty of ranching in such rough and remote terrain. Is the country too difficult to graze? This is a valid question. I would note however, that we have other rugged and remote allotments that are managed successfully. It is clear to me that if and when grazing is to resume, these allotments must be properly managed. And that means improved administration on the part of BLM as well as improved operations on the part of permittees. Of course, the key ingredient is having conscientious operators who have both the capability and willingness to do the required "cowboying" to properly manage these allotments. But part-time, half-hearted efforts on full-time allotments like those on the Fifty Mile Mountain, don't work. That should be obvious to all of us by now. My third and final thought on what ingredients need to be part of a long-term solution has to do with straightening out what is an apparent misunderstanding between the BLM and the state brand inspector regarding procedures on getting inspections and transportation tags on impounded cattle. We are currently discussing a proposal for a working agreement with the State Department of Agriculture. Certainly it has been, and remains our intent, to cooperate and comply with all applicable state laws. Despite the complications and harsh rhetoric that has surrounded this controversy, from a BLM perspective, the problem over the trespass cattle is a relatively straight-forward case of permit noncompliance non-compliance and failure to apply common sense range management principles. But by saying the issue is straightforward is not to say the solutions will be easy to accomplish. Few public land issues are these days. It is the BLM's responsibility to follow the provisions in existing grazing regulation and policies that are designed to sustain the health of the land and remedy problems such as these. It is imperative that the BLM not be frustrated in its efforts, and that we succeed. All parties involved need to put forth their best efforts to resolve this issue in a fair and reasonable manner as quickly as possible. We owe this to all who care about the public lands, but perhaps especially to the livestock operators who play by the rules and demonstrate good stewardship. Sally Wisely State Director BLM Utah Operations |
