|
The Bureau of Land Management is in the process of writing a new rule to guide its management of cows and other livestock grazing on federal lands, and both ranchers and environmental groups are concerned about what will be included. Ranchers and livestock industry leaders worry that the new rule will create too many limits on grazing, while conservation groups worry it won't go far enough to manage the outsized impact that grazing has on ecosystem degradation.
The issue of grazing on BLM land is sensitive in the West, especially since the 2014 armed standoff between law enforcement and militia groups in Nevada that resulted when the BLM attempted to remove hundreds of cattle owned by rancher Cliven Bundy that were illegally grazing on federal lands.
BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning previously stated that the primary goal of the rule update is to respond to climate change and drought in the West. The BLM has reportedly been seeking feedback from a range of stakeholders and local governments across 13 western states. “Our goal is to have more tools available for the grazing community to improve rangeland health, encourage resilient landscapes, and provide more flexible responses for changing resource and climatic conditions, such as drought,” said BLM press secretary Brian Hires.
Based on the feedback received from stakeholders so far, the new rule might involve a performance-based system that encourages good land stewardship practices. However, conservation groups are hoping for more sweeping updates to grazing management, including a plan for monitoring and enforcing landscape health, native plant restoration, and a cap on utilization during drought conditions.
Lawmakers await revamped permitting bill
Democratic leaders are awaiting an updated version of Senator Joe Manchin’s permitting overhaul that they plan to attach to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act to honor the deal they struck with Manchin in exchange for his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act. The permitting language could shorten timelines for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, among other reforms. Representative Raúl Grijalva, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, warned he would vote to block consideration of the spending bill if it undermines NEPA. “I understand, and I’ve tried to give to senators the reassurance that the transmission grid issues—the promotion of renewable and alternative energies—have to be dealt with, but not like this,” he said. “Taking a hatchet to NEPA is not the way to go.”
|
We have to start understanding what the laws are for and why they were created. We are the original users of the subsistence fish that we get here on the Kuskokwim, and we have run into a lot of regulations, and we’re still not in harmony with each other.”
