Grazing Team: Sierra Club Activist Network

Summary: We advocate for eliminating the adverse effects of livestock production on native species and their habitats on all federal public lands of the United States.

Livestock grazing occurs on more federal public lands than any other commercial use, affecting more than 260 million acres—an area the size of Texas and California combined! Additional impacts related to livestock grazing—including water diversions, wildlife killings, and mile after mile of fencing—further threaten the wildlife and wild character of these public lands, including habitats important to many of our most imperiled species of plants and animals.

In the United States, livestock grazing has contributed to the listing of 22 percent of federal threatened and endangered species—almost equal to logging (12 percent) and mining (11 percent) combined. Nationwide, livestock grazing is the 4th major cause of species endangerment and the 2nd major cause of endangerment of plant species. No other human activity in the West is as responsible for the decline or loss of species as is livestock production. The Sierra Club has placed a high priority on protecting and restoring native wildlife and habitat to our public lands by seeking management changes that will correct livestock impacts. In some locations, this may require an end to commercial livestock production.

The goal of the Sierra Club’s grazing campaign is to promote the health of our federal public lands by eliminating the adverse effects of livestock production on native species and their habitats on all federal public lands.

The Sierra Club recognizes that the preponderance of scientific evidence documents that grazing by non-native species has led to severe and sometimes irreversible degradation of native ecosystems. Federal public lands belong to the American public and must be managed to maintain their long-term ecological integrity.

Our Projects

The Grazing Team is working on two projects: 1) monitoring of environmental conditions on federal grazing allotments, including cow counting; 2) enactment of legislation that allows any rancher to voluntarily relinquish his federal grazing permit and to direct the management agency to permanently close the associated grazing allotment.

How You Can Help

* Link the Grazing site from your Group or Chapter website.

* People interested in learning how to monitor conditions on public lands grazing allotments in their area are invited to contact Jim Catlin at jim@wildutahproject.org.

* If you’re interested in legislative issues involving public lands ranching or in educating the public about the topic, please contact Mike Hudak at mike_hudak@yahoo.com.

Comment Wall

Mike Hudak

April 23

Grace Adams: "Would buying out the grazing rights of ranchers now running cattle on the commons and replacing the cattle with bison managed as game animals work any better?" Normal migration of bison typically resulted in an area being grazed once every 5-7 years. Plus there were many other species now absent. Such restoration is the long-term goal of the Great Plains Restoration Council. One issue to consider is that most of these lands are privately owned (not public).

Grace Adams

April 23

TED talk reminds me of "Graze Anatomy" in a 2010 anthology by Daedalus Books. I believe rotational grazing has a place instead of raising corn, soy, and hay in fields to feed to cattle on feedlots but maybe not in American Southwest deserts.

Grace Adams

April 23

Would buying out the grazing rights of ranchers now running cattle on the commons and replacing the cattle with bison managed as game animals work any better.

Sudhir Sajwan

March 15

HATS OFF TO ALL MEMBERS FOR THEIR TREMENDOUS EFFORTS.

Jane Feldman

March 07

Hmmm... Sure do wish there were easy answers...!! Living in the Mojave Desert, I've seen public lands after cattle, feral horses and feral burros have been allowed to persist for too long. The animals themselves suffer as well.

Showing items of 77

Tools

Please log inor register to interact with Grazing Team.

Team Members

See All | Join

To promote the health of our federal public lands by eliminating the adverse effects of livestock production on native species and their habitats on all federal public lands.

View All Posts

Rural Economic Vitalization Act (REVA) introduced by Rep. Adam Smith

Posted by Mike Hudak
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Comments (9)

I am pleased to announce the introduction of the "Rural Economic Vitalization Act" (REVA) by Congressman Adam Smith (WA-9). Our thanks to Representative Smith and his staff for their efforts on this legislation.

My thanks also to the Grazing Team's June 2011 Lobby Event participants whose work brought this issue to the attention of many congressional offices.

--Mike Hudak, Leader, Grazing Team.

Press release follows.

November 16, 2011

Contacts: Mike Hudak, Sierra Club Grazing Team ● 607/240-5225
Mark Salvo, WildEarth Guardians ● 503/757-4221
Brian Ertz, Western Watersheds Project ● 208/830-2120
Josh Osher, Buffalo Field Campaign ● 434/227-1212
Rose Chilcoat, Great Old Broads for Wilderness ● 970/799-3679

Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Legislation Introduced in Congress

Bill would Provide Cash Option for Grazing Permittees

Conservationists hailed the introduction of the Rural Economic Vitalization Act (H.R. 3432) in Congress today, a bill that would allow federal grazing permittees to voluntarily relinquish their grazing permits back to the managing federal agency in exchange for compensation paid by a third party. The bill was introduced by Representative Adam Smith (D-WA-9th) and six original cosponsors.

“When enacted, this legislation will help resolve endless conflict on public lands, while providing ranchers with opportunities to restructure their operations, start new businesses, or retire with security,” said Mike Hudak, author of Western Turf Wars: The Politics of Public Lands Ranching and leader of the Sierra Club Grazing Team.

Domestic livestock grazing is the most pervasive and damaging use of federal public lands. On public land across the West, millions of non-native livestock remove and trample vegetation, damage soil, spread invasive weeds, despoil water, deprive native wildlife of forage and shelter, accelerate desertification and even contribute to global warming.

Unfortunately, antiquated federal law generally prohibits closing grazing allotments to benefit fish, wildlife and watersheds. The Rural Economic Vitalization Act would authorize federal agencies to permanently retire grazing permits if requested by ranchers.

“Grazing permit retirement has been implemented in a few places around the West with marked success, but there is much greater need—and demand from ranchers—to retire grazing permits,” said Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians.

One landscape that has benefited from grazing permit retirement is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem where grazing allotments have been closed to reduce conflicts with wolves, grizzly bears and bighorn sheep, and to expand winter range for bison outside Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone bison, the last remaining genetically pure wild herd in the U.S., are subject to intensive management and control based on the irrational fear that they will transmit disease to domestic livestock.

“Bison are hazed, captured, shot and slaughtered to protect grazing interests on public land in Yellowstone country,” said Josh Osher of the Buffalo Field Campaign. “REVA is the tool we need to finally, permanently address these conflicts.”

In addition to being the source of immeasurable environmental harm, the federal grazing program is a fiscal boondoggle for federal taxpayers. The Government Accountability Office reported that the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service annually spend $132.5 million on grazing management, but collect only $17.5 million in grazing fees for a net loss to taxpayers of $115 million.

“We want to save public lands and do our part to solve the deficit,” said Brian Ertz of Western Watersheds Project. “We just need Congressional approval to buy out willing ranchers and retire their grazing permits.”

Grazing permit retirement is a voluntary, non-regulatory, market-based solution to public lands grazing conflicts. Permittees determine if and when they want to retire their grazing permits. Permittees and third parties separately agree how much a permittee will be paid for relinquishing their permit. And federal agencies facilitate the transaction by immediately retiring grazing permits received from a permittee. The Rural Economic Vitalization Act caps the total number of grazing permits that may be retired each year at 100.

“This is a win-win-win for ranchers, the environment, and taxpayers,” said Rose Chilcoat of Great Old Broads for Wilderness. “Let’s pass this bill so that we can finally take some common sense steps to ensure healthy public lands.

# # #

See also the press release from the office of Rep. Adam Smith:
http://adamsmith.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=269150

mike sauber: "Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service annually spend $132.5 million on grazing management, but collect only $17.5 million in grazing fees for a net loss to taxpayers of $115 million."
..And I was under the impression that half of the collected grazing fees went into the "range improvement fund" (at least for the Forest Service)
Please verify this.
Great job in producing this legislation! Thanks to all.
Mike Hudak: There's no conflict in those statements. Fifty percent of the grazing fee does go to range betterment funds. And varying percentages go to the U.S. treasury depending on the agency and type of lands. The figures cited are simply cost overruns.
Jonathan Ivers: Mike, you should share this on our Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/SierraClubActivistNetwork
John Byrne Barry: Bravo!
Kalen Cap: This sounds like a good development.
Janet Maxwell: Big thanks to everyone who has helped on this bill.
Julie L: Thanks to Mike for organzing a terrific lobbying session this week to get more co-sponsors in the House and look for sponsors in the Senate! I learned a lot and enjoyed helping Mike, Brian, and Josh. Onward and upward!
Mike Hudak: Thank you, Julie, for your assistance this past week. One easy thing that everyone can do to help us is to encourage their Facebook friends to "Like" REVA's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/REVA4PublicLands).
AngieZ: They said that aside from the smog, electricity we use, other things, 20% of cow's poops deplete the ozone layer because it release methans to the air. I just stop eating beef to help out environment, helping the cows from getting kill.
comment

View all 9 comments

Add Comment