Department Of Interior

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Office of the Secretary
John Wright 202-208-6416
For Immediate Release:December 5, 2003
Tom Gorey 202-452-5137
 
Interior Secretary Announces Proposed Grazing Rule That Would Improve Grazing Management,
Help Continue Public Lands Ranching
 

The Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Land Management today released details of a proposed grazing rule that would improve grazing management and help continue public lands ranching in the rural West. The proposed rule, announced by Interior Secretary Gale Norton in a speech in New Mexico, recognizes the economic and social benefits of public lands ranching, as well as its preservation of open space in the rapidly growing West. The BLM will publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register on December 8.

"This proposed rule will help public lands ranchers stay on the land," Secretary Norton said in remarks to the Joint Stockmen's Convention in Albuquerque. "It will do that by creating a regulatory framework that lets ranchers succeed based on sound business judgment and sustainable ranching practices." Norton added, "This proposal recognizes that ranching is crucial not only to the economies of Western rural communities, but also to the history, social fabric, and cultural identity of these communities."

The BLM also unveiled the proposed rule in Washington, D.C., where BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said the proposed changes "will improve the Agency's working relationships with its grazing permittees, resulting in better stewardship of lands that are crucial for open space and wildlife habitat in the rapidly growing West." She called the proposal "a major step forward for effective, efficient public rangeland management," adding, "The BLM recognizes the economic contributions and social value of ranching. This proposed rule reflects our Agency's commitment to continue livestock grazing as one of the legitimate uses of the public lands."

After the proposed rule's publication in the Federal Register, the public will have more than 60 days to comment on the proposal. The BLM expects to publish a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed grazing rule later this month, which will be followed by a 60-day public comment period. The comment periods for the proposed rule and the Draft EIS will end on the same day.

The proposed rule would, among other things, ensure that BLM managers consider and document the social, cultural, and economic consequences of decisions affecting grazing; allow the BLM and a grazing permittee to share title of permanent range improvements, such as a fence, well, or pipeline; require assessments and monitoring of resource conditions to support BLM evaluations of whether an allotment is meeting rangeland health standards; allow a more realistic timeframe (24 months rather than the current 12 months) for deciding on grazing-related actions needed to achieve rangeland health standards; remove the current three-consecutive-year limit on temporary non-use of a grazing permit by allowing livestock operators to apply for non-use for up to one year at a time (whether for conservation or business purposes); eliminate, in compliance with recent Federal court rulings, existing regulatory provisions that allow the BLM to issue long-term "conservation use" grazing permits; and make clear how the BLM will authorize grazing if a Bureau decision affecting a grazing permit is "stayed" (postponed) pending administrative appeal. (For further details, including how to comment on the proposed rule, see the accompanying Factsheet.)

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Interior Department, manages 261 million acres of public land, of which about 160 million are authorized for grazing by some 18,000 permit and lease holders. The actual acreage grazed during any one-year period is less than 160 million acres because grazing use is affected by such factors as drought, wildfire, and permittee business decisions.

Fact Sheet on the BLM's Proposed Grazing Rule

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