Controversy Arises Over New Range Management Plan

September 21, 2015

AWHC Contributor

A new federal land management plan for southwest Idaho and northern Nevada has been released, allowing an increase in cattle grazing. This decision follows a settlement of a lawsuit aimed at reducing grazing, causing concern among conservation groups.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved its Resource Management Plan for the Jarbidge Field Office, following a 2005 settlement agreement with conservationists.

"This demonstrates that the BLM cannot be trusted to put the priority of wildlife and multiple use over cowboys," said Todd Tucci, an attorney for Advocates for the West representing Western Watersheds Project. "Cowboys are running the show."

The conservation group is considering another lawsuit. "We can't let an increase in cattle go unchallenged," Tucci stated.

The previous plan allowed up to 260,000 animal unit months, which has increased to 326,000 under the new plan. The BLM defines an animal unit month as the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month.

The BLM cited the 2005 federal lawsuit settlement agreement with Western Watersheds Project as a reason for creating the new plan for the 1.4 million acres of public lands in the Jarbidge Field Office.

In the decade between the settlement agreement and the release of the new plan, the area has experienced repeated giant rangeland wildfires, typically driven by invasive and fire-prone cheatgrass. Some areas have burned multiple times, totaling more than a million acres over the years.

Heidi Whitlach, project manager for the Rangeland Management Plan, explained that wildfires in the area and other parts of the state often pulled workers off the project, accounting for the time needed to complete the plan.

"We've had a lot of hurdles that came up," Whitlach said. "It's taken us quite a while to get this process completed, and we're very happy that we finally have."

Rehabilitation efforts in the burned areas have resulted in the planting of grasses to prevent non-desirable invasive species, particularly cheatgrass, from returning. The initial years of the new Range Management Plan call for increased grazing and more cattle due to the additional forage with the planted grasses.

"We've tried hard to have different treatments that will allow the land to better recover after some of these wildfires that we've had," Whitlach said. "So we've tried to build into it resiliency."

Over the years, the number of animal unit months will be reduced to 279,000 as more native plants and shrubs return.

Western Watersheds Project has a history of opposing the planting of non-native seeds after a wildfire, arguing that it can turn sagebrush steppe needed by wildlife, such as sage grouse, into pastureland for cattle.

"We know where this ends," said Tucci. "It ends in the extirpation of wildlife."

The BLM plan also calls for sterilizing a herd of about 200 wild horses in the area, which was criticized by the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign).

The group described it as a "pest control" act for ranchers "who view mustangs as competition for cheap, taxpayer-subsidized grazing on public lands."

The Idaho Cattle Association did not return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.

Originally Posted By The Associated Press