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Show Ranchers Support Keeping Grazing Allotments Open KANAB Canyon Country Rural Alliance and Canyon Country Ranchers Association members met with other ranchers ranch-ers and residents from Garfield and Kane Counties Friday night, Mar. 8, to discuss current Environmental Assessments (EA's) impacting their interests. Canyon Country Ranchers (formerly (for-merly the Kane County Cattlemens Association) has changed its name and scope of representation to include ranchers ranch-ers in the Arizona strip, Garfield County, and Washington County. Because the livestock grazing industry is essential to the local economy and western culture is key to the tourist industry, the continuing loss of jobs due to the elimination of livestock grazing is of concern to local business owners as well as ranchers. The group was provided with a map showing the significant potential economic to the counties coun-ties because of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument's plan to permanently permanent-ly eliminate grazing on some allotments, in addition to allot- ments that have already been cut or closed. Since 1998 the assault on the industry has been relentless an (See GRAZING on page 5-A) Grazing From Front Page d over 16,000 AUMs have been eliminated or are currently threatened. These allotments have been closed or drastically cut for various reasons, many of them based on faulty science. "If the elimination of grazing stands through the current EAs, we're 'done' as an industry," said local rancher Worth Brown whose permits are on allotments allot-ments in the Grand-Staircase-Escalante National Monument. "This issue is not really about grazing, just as it wasn't about roads," said Mark Habbeshaw. "It is about the survival of our rural counties. It is about Kane and Garfield Counties co-existing with a 1.9 million-acre monument mon-ument as a neighbor. It is about federal employees complying with their own laws, rules and regulations. "Our roads are open today because they could not legally take our roads and we did not give them away. The counties have submitted extensive com-' ments on this grazing issue to the BLM. The BLM admits we were valid in our comments, but rather than seek resolution, they used our comments to eliminate flaws and they completely revised their EAs in an effort to defeat us." Steve Rich, a range specialist, special-ist, briefly addressed the group. He stated, "When grazing is eliminated from national parks, ecosystems suffer". He demonstrated demon-strated the difference between dead park lands where grazing has not been permitted and immediately adjacent healthy lands which are regularly grazed. Rich offered to work with area ranchers in becoming better ecosystem stewards. Area ranchers and Kane and Garfield County commissioners are committed to challenging these grazing elimination efforts and they are seeking support of area residents. Bob Ott, Cannonville, and other ranchers from Garfield county attended the meeting and one of their concerns was the failure of the BLM to consult with their association regarding the final disposition of AUMs managed under the authority of the Upper Paria Grazers Association. Local attorney, Todd Mcfarlane, concluded the evening by discussing the mission mis-sion statement, by-laws, and goals of the newly formed Canyon Country Ranchers Association. Interested ranchers ranch-ers or residents should contact Worth Brown at 435-644-5963 or Mark Habbeshaw at 435-644-8091. |