Number: 2002-06
WHEREAS, adequate supervision of livestock grazing on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands is essential to protection of wildlife habitats, protection of watersheds, sustainable utilization of forage resources and a healthy livestock industry; and
WHEREAS, funding for roads, fences and other structural range improvements and range restoration is adequate; and
WHEREAS, funding for supervision of grazing use has decreased steadily since the 1980s to the point that the Forest Service now has only a small fraction of the range conservationists on the ground compared to the 1980s; and
WHEREAS, complexities of the range management job have increased because of the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other requirements; further reducing the effective field time of the few remaining range conservationists; and
WHEREAS, this reduced funding and increased workload has resulted in inadequate supervision of grazing, backsliding from previous gains causing serious damage to soil, water and wildlife resources.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that National Wildlife Federation at its Annual Meeting assembled March 7-9, 2002 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, urges the U.S. Congress to allocate sufficient funding for the supervision of livestock grazing on USFS lands and not to build additional roads, fences and other structural range improvements that would be detrimental to wildlife.