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>BACK BLM grazing decisions appealed for 31 Utah allotments, stay requested to prevent grazing pending resolution of appeal Note: The following letter is reproduced using scanning and optical character recognition. To download a copy of the document as originally scanned for viewing with Microsoft Word, RIGHT-CLICK HERE and then "Save link as"...
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
IN REPLY REFER TO: Western Watershed Projects
Inc. Dear Permittees and Interested Publics; On August 27 and 29, 2001, the Salt Lake Field Office issued
final grazing decisions to renew the grazing permits on several Tooele County
allotments, the Ajax, Deseret-Rush Valley, East Grassy, East Onaqui, East Onaqui
Resource Conservation Area, Faust Rest Area, German Valley, Grantsville SCS,
Indian Springs, Lakeside, Lone Rock, Lost Creek, Lucin-Pilot, Mercur, North
Grassy, North Puddle Valley, Pole Canyon, Salt Mountain, Silver Island, Skunk
Ridge, South Clover, South Deseret, Stansbury Island North, Stansbury Island
South, Stansbury Island Southeast, Topliff, Vernon, Vernon Hills, West Grassy
and West Onaqui Allotments. On October 1, 2001 these decisions were appealed by
the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Western Watersheds Project. The
appellants also petitioned for a stay of the final decisions during the appeal
process. Presently it takes about two years for an appeal to reach a hearing. BLM is required to inform interested publics of an appeal. This letter fulfills
that purpose. According to BLM's handbook H-4160, "Decisions, Hearings, and
Appeals," if a stay is granted "an applicant who was granted grazing
use in the preceding year may continue at that level of authorized grazing use
during the time the decision is stayed." However, in their petition for a
stay, the appellants stated that the stay they were requesting was;
"elimination of livestock grazing on the relevant allotments." In
other words the stay of the final decisions requested with the appeal is
different
than a normal stay. An administrative law judge would take this into account in
ruling on the stay request. According to regulations an administrative law judge
has 45 days to rule on the stay request. The other purpose of this letter is to inform the permittees that any party who
received the final decision may also provide information addressing the petition
for a stay. This information must be mailed to the Interior Board of Land
Appeals with a copy to the Office of Hearing and Appeals within 10 days of
receiving the appeal. Additionally, if the stay is granted as requested in the
appeal and these allotments are closed to livestock grazing, the permittees will
have to make alternate arrangements for their livestock during the appeal
period. Ruling on the stay request should occur within the next two months.
The Salt Lake Field Office will keep you updated on the status of the petition
for stay and the appeal. Sincereley, Glenn A. Carpenter Field Office Manager |
