Permit Value: A Hidden Key to the Public Land Grazing Dispute

A Proposal for Real Rangeland Reform

Drafted by Jeff Burgess

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Whereas livestock grazing is permitted by the federal government on public lands administered by the USDA's Forest Service and the USDI's Bureau of Land Management; and whereas grazing cannot be continued on many of these lands without unacceptable levels of environmental degradation, unresolvable conflicts with other uses of the land, or excessive investment by the public in the implementation of adequate livestock management; then the following legislative proposal is offered to allow for the equitable retirement of the aforementioned lands from livestock grazing:

1. All livestock management projects on public lands wherein the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process has been engaged will include among the management alternatives to be analyzed a "no-grazing" alternative. This alternative, in addition to documenting the environmental and economic benefits to the public of discontinuing grazing, will include a professional assessment of the market value of the affected grazing permit. (Legally, federal grazing permits are not private property and have no market value. They can be revoked by federal land managers at any time for good cause. Traditionally, however, the market value of a ranch's private base property is inflated to reflect the assumption that the government will reissue the grazing permit to the new owner when the property is sold. Thus, the market value of a grazing permit is the difference between the market value of a ranch's private base property with the grazing permit attached, minus the value of the property without the permit.)

2. Upon the completion of the NEPA analysis, a grazing permittee may opt to voluntarily surrender their grazing permit and receive payment from the agency equal to the permit's assessed market value. The offer and/or disbursement of this financial compensation in no way implies or infers that possession of a grazing permit gives the holder a property right on federal lands. The intent of the money is to serve as Transitional Economic Assistance (TEA) to the former permit holder. If the permittee declines to voluntarily surrender the grazing permit, the responsible federal land manager may still choose to implement the no-grazing alternative if it's determined that it's the management alternative that best serves the public interest. The former grazing permit holder will still receive the appropriate amount of TEA if this happens.

3. Any rancher holding a federal grazing permit may, at any time, choose to procure their own professional assessment of the market value of their permit. The permittee may then submit the assessment to the agency in order to voluntarily surrender their permit and receive the appropriate amount of TEA.

4. The permitting of livestock grazing shall be suspended on all lands for which a grazing permit has been retired, as described above, for a minimum of 25 years. At the end of this time period, no livestock grazing shall be permitted to resume until a NEPA analysis is completed and it is determined the resumption of grazing would be in the public interest.

5. Congress will create a Range Retirement Fund (RRF) to provide a source of money for the Forest Service and the BLM to disburse TEA. The RRF will receive a minimum annual appropriation of $50 million* for as long as it is deemed necessary to continue the program. Private individuals, organizations (such as conservation groups), and states will also be allowed to contribute to the RRF.

6. Federal land managers will be responsible for prioritizing grazing allotments under their jurisdiction so that, in the event available RRF funds are insufficient, TEA will be first be disbursed to facilitate the suspension of grazing on those allotments with the most important resources.

7. This legislation would in no other way alter the existing federal laws regarding the permitting of livestock grazing on public lands.

*This is the amount of the deficit the federal government reported it incurred managing livestock grazing on public lands in 1990.