Number: 1979-33
WHEREAS, public lands in the western states support some of our Nation’s largest numbers of wildlife species, and;
WHEREAS, many of these public lands, particularly the Red Desert in Wyoming, are largely unfenced tracts which allow free movement of migratory wildlife species such as the pronghorn antelope, and;
WHEREAS, fencing to implement and facilitate domestic livestock management programs often adversely impact wildlife through creation of a constraint hazard or blockage of historic migratory routes, and;
WHEREAS, extreme losses of migratory antelope herds in the Red Desert area have occurred, in some instances as high as sixty percent, during severe winter weather, and;
WHEREAS, fence modification, such as let-down fences or panels, have not proven satisfactory due to a variety of reasons like improper design and placement, frequent changes in or delegation to agency personnel, and improper timing and priority attached to accomplish fence modification before the onset of winter storms, and;
WHEREAS, there is a projected increase in the frequency and amount of fence construction and maintenance on public lands to accommodate and facilitate proposed domestic livestock management plans as accomplished with public tax monies, and;
WHEREAS, livestock grazing on public lands is a compatible use, where made within the capability of the land to sustain such use over time;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in Annual Meeting assembled March 22-25, 1979, in Toronto, Ontario, hereby reaffirms their prior position that livestock grazing upon the public land must be made within the constraint of land capability with exclusion of livestock grazing applicable where other resource values have higher priority in the public interest and/or where range productivity is so limited as to preclude livestock grazing as a viable and economic use, private or public, and;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that alternatives to fencing such as herding, riding, and/or change in class of livestock or season of use by implemented in areas of known wildlife migratory routes where wildlife and livestock are an acceptable mix of land use, and;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes the proliferation of fence construction upon the public land unless it is clearly demonstrated that such fences are required to accommodate a coordinated domestic livestock management proposal consistent with land capability constraint and inherent resource values.