U.S. offers rules to preserve grazing

WASHINGTON — The Interior Department on Friday proposed new public lands grazing rules that it says would ensure that social, cultural and economic impacts are considered, along with environmental impacts, when making grazing decisions.

"This proposed rule will help public lands ranchers stay on the land," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in a speech to the Joint Stockmen's Convention in New Mexico.

In Washington, U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke, a native Utahn, said the proposal "reflects our agency's commitment to continue livestock grazing as one of the legitimate uses of the public lands."

Grazing is one of many battlefronts between environmental groups and ranchers, miners, the timber industry and others who seek to develop land. The new rules appear to go to great lengths to help ranchers, who have complained that environmental rules make it more difficult to survive.

Environmentalists say the new rules will likely be challenged in court.

"What Interior is trying to claim is that ranchers have a right rather than a privilege to graze on public lands. That's already been struck down in courts," said Denise Boggs, executive director of the Utah Environmental Congress.

• Ensuring that BLM managers consider and document the social, cultural and economic consequences of decisions affecting grazing, and do not focus only on the environment.
  Norton said that "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."

• Allowing the BLM and a grazing permittee to share title to some permanent range improvements, such as fences, wells or pipelines. Clarke has said that will give ranchers incentive to make improvements to the land.

• Removing the current requirement that the BLM seek sole ownership of water rights for grazing where allowed by state law.

• Phasing in any grazing reductions (and increases) of more than 10 percent over a five-year period whenever possible but recognizing BLM's authority to take bigger steps if necessary because of drought, fire and other resource conditions.