What is Wrong with the BLM's Management of Livestock Grazing on the Public Lands?
Idaho Law Review, Vol. 30, p. 555, 1994
48 Pages Posted: 4 Sep 2009
Date Written: 1994
Abstract
This article seeks to present an accurate description of the current state of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) range management, and this examination reveals that livestock grazing, rather than environmental protection and alternative land uses, remains the first priority of BLM range management. It briefly reviews the nature and extent of BLM managed lands, impact of grazing on those resources, and statutes and regulations affecting the BLM's management of such grazing; discusses BLM policies and practices determining which BLM lands are used for livestock grazing and the numbers of livestock permitted to graze; presents examples, from the author's own experience, of how these policies and practices lead to the subordination of environmental values to livestock interests. While some recent regulatory changes contain some significant positive features, they fail to address the fundamental issue of whether some of the lands managed by the BLM are unsuitable or inappropriate for livestock grazing.
Keywords: Natural Resource Law, Land Use, Environmental Law
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