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Tell Senate Committee: Reject “Grazing Improvement” Act

Posted by on November 13, 2013

Tell Senate Committee: Reject “Grazing Improvement” Act

“Grazing Improvement” Act Spells Disaster for Public Lands, Wild Horses and Burros.

Photo by Terry Fitch, Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Livestock grazing represents the largest single commercial use of federal lands in the lower 48 states. On our public lands across the West, millions of livestock trample and destroy vegetation, damage soil, spread invasive weeds, pollute water, and deprive wildlife — including wild horses and burros — of forage and water. In fact, a driving force behind the mass roundup and removal of wild horses and burros from public lands is the private livestock industry.

Senator John Barrasso’s (R-WY)  “Grazing Improvement” Act (S-258) is dangerously close to becoming law. If enacted, this bill would gut the minimal environmental protections that exist for public lands grazed by private livestock and diminish the public’s ability to participate in decisions about grazing management. It would effectively guarantee ranchers renewal of their permits without further analysis for a long time.

The bill passed the House of Representatives this spring and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee may mark-up the bill within the next 10 days. Now is the time to make our voices heard to prevent this bill from moving forward in the Senate.

This is bad deal for America’s wild horses and burros, American taxpayers and our public lands. Contact the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and urge them to oppose S. 258, the misnamed “Grazing Improvement” Act.

Subject: Oppose S.258 – The Grazing Improvement Act
Yubject: Oppose S.258 – The Grazing Improvement Act

Energy & Natural Resources Comm.

U.S. Senate
Phone:202-224-4971
Fax:202-224-6163MORE INFO:

More Information on Public Lands Grazing & Wild Horses

Photo by Kimerlee Curyl

Welfare Ranching is the driving force behind the mass removal of wild horses from public lands. The cattlemen’s lobby wants to maintain access to taxpayer-subsidized, commercial livestock grazing on public lands.

  • The BLM charges ranchers $1.35 per Animal Unit Month (AUM). [An AUM is the amount of forage necessary to sustain 1 horse, 3 burros, 1 cow/calf pair or 5 sheep/goats for one month.] According to the Congressional Research Service, “This is the lowest fee that can be charged.” It is cheaper than rates charged by other federal agencies as well as states and a fraction of the market rate for grazing on private land. (Average monthly rate $15.10 per head according to a Congressional Research Service report.)
  • In 2012, the Obama Administration announced that it would seek to increase the grazing fee by one dollar to $2.35 per AUM, but Congress must approve it, and the livestock industry is strongly opposing this modest proposal.
  • The BLM grazing program costs taxpayers nearly $50 million annually. The Center for Biological Diversity estimated that the costs to U.S. taxpayers for public lands grazing on all federal lands were roughly $500 million annually. (Congressional Research Service report).
  • Wild horses and burros are outnumbered at least 50-1 by privately-owned cattle and sheep on BLM lands. Wild horses are restricted to just 11 percent of BLM lands, which they must share with livestock. Yet even on the small amount of BLM land designated as wild horse habitat, the BLM allocates the majority of forage to private livestock, not wild horses. 
  • The BLM administers about 245 million acres of public lands (more than any other federal agency). Livestock grazing is authorized on 157 million acres of those lands. (BLM Grazing Fact Sheet.) Wild horses are restricted to 26.9 million acres of BLM land. (BLM Quick Facts)
  • The BLM authorizes the equivalent of more than 1 million cow/calf pairs to graze on BLM lands vs. a maximum of 26,600 wild horses and burros.

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