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This was written by a 5 term Idaho state representative. His wife won his seat when he retired in '16. He's talking about Idaho in particular but it applies to BLM land all over the west. He echoes some of the same sentiments often expressed here on the Fire.


Reader Comment: Feds Now Want Cows - Cows, Mind You! - on Public Lands
STEPHEN HARTGEN

To twist a phrase, the cud of government is munched exceeding slow, but just once in a while, we see definite improvement in how our federal land managers actually listen to and adapt to local concerns.

That’s been evident in recent years (Yep, it takes years sometimes.) in how the Bureau of Land Management is responding in new ways to local ranchers and multiple-use interests. Here are some examples:

One, changes in top management under the new administration signals a new approach. Transfers, retirements, new state directors and better “reach out” efforts to local communities are coming into place.

Fading, if not gone, are the old attitudes that we (the feds) own this land and you (the people) will use it only as we direct. I once witnessed a BLM factotum say the staff opposed an energy project because it would have intruded on land they liked to hunt. (The project, China Mountain Wind, collapsed in 2012 when BLM wouldn’t allow a permit.) So much for multiple use then under the previous administration.

Two, working with the state, the agency has implemented fire protection districts across the ranges and is now providing used, but good, equipment to give these fire protection associations the tools to jump on fires before they become conflagrations. (IC 38-104).

Recently, the Southern Idaho BLM gifted used fire engines and trucks to be pre-positioned on ranches for first-line use by the ranchers themselves (Times-News, Oct. 6, 2019). It’s a common sense move which we should all appreciate.

This recent summer, fires in Southern Idaho consumed less than 300,000 acres of rangeland, way below the peak fires of decades past, like the Murphy Fire of 2007, which burned over 600,000 acres, an area not much smaller than the entire state of Rhode Island.

Three, the agency actually — wait for it – has begun to recognize – wait for it – the value of grazing to keep fire-prone Western lands in better control and reduce fire’s intensity.

Whoddathunkit! The BLM will actually let cows — cows, mind you, cows! – eat down range grasses and thereby reduce range fuel loads. Wow!

“Less grass-less fire” is a principle known to ranchers for decades, but it’s been lost in the recent strident eco-environmentalism of save-the-planet interest groups and Al Gore politicians who see the West as one huge national park. Federal land mangers knew this too, but the “anti-grazing” forces in DC lobbies and the Obama agency corridors overwhelmed this common sense, as some former local feds will tell you privately.

One good measure of the change is the primal-scream bellowing now being heard from eco-groups which oppose even light uses on public lands; recent changes to allow more controlled grazing have brought wild eco-hysteria of “we’re on the eve of destruction.” (August, 2019) That’s how they solicit your money.

It’s a needed balance that’s being re-struck. No one’s giving ranchers a free pass. No one’s letting cattle graze on inappropriate locations. No one’s allowing grazers to collude (love that word, now in common use) to despoil public lands. There’s a recognition that grazers too are conservationists, among the best. They have to be; it’s their livelihood. More importantly, it’s the land they love, their heritage. God’s country.

Sure, we all need to assure habitat for wildlife, recreation, energy development, as well as grazing. That’s called multiple use.

It’s a welcome change indeed to see the BLM respond in this way. Let’s build on that. One swallow, we are told, does not a summer make. True enough, but it’s still a swallow.

I'd love to see the area someday Rock. I'm a cattle raiser, but I'm dense on that type of grazing.

Some ranchers are as ignorant as they come, thinking the rangeland should be theirs and theirs only, but Western Watersheds is the bane of the west.
Their lawsuits have done more to ruin multiple use than about anything else.

If things are changing in WDC, maybe someone will start thinking about how stupid and destructive the Wild Horse and Burro Act has turned out to be. It was passed on emotion with no common sense.

Of course, over grazing can actually increase fire danger..........


Still, glad people are looking at the range with logic.

Grazing down the early cheat grass growth can prevent those explosions.

Yeah, too bad about the cheat grass.


That Idaho is a lot more fragile than a person thinks.


Dad said that when they would drive tanks around Boise you could always track them the next year.

Everywhere a tank drove, the sage and grass died and cheat took its place.

Cheat grows everywhere from Canada to Mexico. We have our share but NV has it even worse from what I've read. It can be held in check by proper grazing but one big problem is that when it's the best feed is too early to have cattle on BLM land. They need to allow cattle earlier to eat it before it dries off. Also, most grazing allotments don't allow enough cattle to eat it all. Of course that brings up the problem that if a rancher turned out enough cattle to eat all the cheat, where do you put them the rest of the season so they don't overgraze the rest.

High intensity, short duration.


Over grazing causes cheatgrass.


Yeah, cheat is a bugger.

I do agree....you cant manage cheat unless you hit it early and hard.


Same with trying to farm.

Downy Brome I think.

First time you get your socks full if it, you'll recognize it every time. The seeds have microscopic barbs that grab in fabric and hold. They're very hard to get out. If you wear shoes or low boots with a mesh type lining, they'll burrow in and have to be dug out with tweezers. They have sharp points that hurt the feet. They'll also get in an animal's mouth, ears, or between toes and burrow in. I've had to take animals to a vet more than once when they burrow in out of sight.

takes a lot of fence or a lot of herding to hit the cheat grass when it's green. hard enough and stay in the same place long enough to wipe it out. then there is 40 acres right next to it to re-seed it. one place the savory method might have been useful, but still so labor (and capital) intensive.

Did you guys know that Lump Jaw in cattle can be caused by cheat grass seeds?


Not for reasons you might think though. We always thought the lump was caused by an embedded seed.

Nope...the seed causes a small cut in the gums of the cow.....that cut is then infested with a common, normal mouth dwelling bacteria.


The lump is an bacterial infection....eventually becoming a bone infection.

Cheatgrass
Downey brome
June grass
Drooping brome
Bromus tectorum

All names for the same schit weed.

Be thankful it isn't Medusahead.

The wife and I can put out a mile of electric fence in a couple hours.

Fires have been a part of western range for millennia, some BLM land near here could use a good fire. Come spring/summer what small areas burn before they are suppressed look to be an improvement over areas nearby that don't.

I don't see people using anything like it in Northern AZ. dump the cows out and move them in a month or two. maybe too dry down here (too many acres/AUM) maybe just not private ground. most of the ranchers down here are pretty old and the kids are gone. they are paying to get work done. gets expensive.

Cheat, kudzu, Russian thistle, nutria, starlings, Florida's snakes...many of our serious problems are caused by introduced species, some accidental, some on purpose. I don't know an answer for it.

Thats really, really hard on the range.


If you dont own the land, you manage it how you are required by the terms of the lease.


I personally think the feds could manage their grazing lands a little better.