I just got a heads up that there is a provision in the Interior Appropriations bill that would require the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to give grazing permits to ranchers on any vacant allotment to replace lost grazing opportunities to due to fires or anything else “beyond the permittees control.”
The permits would be issued with the same rules in place as at the time the allotment was last grazed, which may have been decades ago. There would be no NEPA and there are no exceptions for Wilderness.
Folks might not know this, but there are a lot of vacant Wilderness allotments that were never “closed,” they are still on the books as “vacant.” The grazing guidelines clearly prohibit what the requirement in the pending Interior Appropriations bill does, but this new provision may well trump the grazing guidelines. Moreover, the guidelines don’t apply to any of the pre-1980 Wildernesses.
I’m in the process of trying to find more information and will provide it here when obtained.
Yea!
Mary – R U serious or tongue in cheek?
Cool! I can leave my stove at home and cook my trail meals using cow pies! How wonderful our congress and the Trump admin are; always looking out for the little guy!
They sure do earn their generous salaries and taxpayer funded benefit packages by focusing on the important topics of the day. If you believe any of what I’ve said above I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.
To be a bit more serious, the majority party in the congress and white house are laughable compared to Republicans such as Oregon’s Senator Mark Hatfield who actually used to pass meaningful, bipartisan legislation. Even Tricky Dick Nixon signed some important environmental laws. Currently we’re getting what many folks voted for but certainly NOT what we’re paying for!