Livestock Grazing on Public Lands

April 1, 1991 Resolutions

Number: 1991-18

 

WHEREAS, the General Accounting Office and the Bureau of Land Management have documented the degraded condition of tens of thousands of stream miles of riparian habitat on public lands and national forests due to abusive livestock grazing practices; and

WHEREAS, data on range condition in the western U. S. indicates that tens of millions of acres of our public rangelands are in a severely degraded condition as a consequence of abusive livestock grazing practices; and

WHEREAS, taxpayers subsidize the continuing degradation of public rangelands because the fees charged by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service for the privilege of livestock grazing are far below market value; and

WHEREAS, the restoration and proper management of degraded public rangelands will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, costs which should be borne by those who financially benefit from the use of public rangelands;

WHEREAS, less than 2% of American livestock producers benefit from grazing privileges on public lands; and

WHEREAS, livestock grazing, where suitable and properly managed, is an appropriate use of public rangelands, so long as other natural resource values, such as fish and wildlife habitats, are not impaired by it;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 21-24, 1991, in Memphis, Tennessee, does not oppose livestock grazing on public lands and national forests:

  1. where such lands are monitored to ensure suitability for livestock grazing;
  2. where such lands are in good ecological condition;
  3. where livestock grazing does not impair other natural resource values, especially fish and wildlife populations and their habitat;
  4. where livestock grazing is consistent with the management purposes of the public lands subject to grazing; and
  5. where wildlife receive an equal or greater percentage of allocated or available animal unit months or forage.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes all grazing practices on federal lands that cause the degradation of fish and wildlife habitat and other natural resources such as soil, water and vegetative communities, and further, that livestock grazing should be precluded from all federal public lands now in less than “satisfactory” ecological condition, and that such lands be evaluated before grazing is resumed, and further, that after regaining “satisfactory” ecological status any resumed livestock grazing will be precluded if the land is degraded to a less than “satisfactory” ecological condition; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports legislation that ensures protection and conservation of America’s public lands; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation reaffirms its support for federal livestock grazing fees set at fair market value; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that deposits of grazing fee receipts into the “Range Betterment Fund” of the Bureau of Land Management and the U. S. Forest Service be abolished, and that all livestock grazing fee receipts instead be deposited in the U. S. Treasury, and made available for appropriation by Congress for the restoration and proper management of BLM and national forest rangelands.