Please Urge Your Senator to Oppose "Grazing" Amendment in Farm Bill

"Grazing Improvement" Amendment to Farm Bill Spells Disaster for Public Lands, Wild Horses and Burros

Photo by Terry Fitch, Wild Horse Freedom Federation
NOTE: Information for this alert provided by Mike Hudak, Leader, Sierra Club Grazing Team.

Livestock grazing represents the largest single commercial use of federal lands in the lower 48 states. On our public lands across the West, millions of livestock trample and destroy vegetation, damage soil, spread invasive weeds, pollute water, and deprive wildlife -- including wild horses and burros -- of forage and water. In fact, a driving force behind the mass roundup and removal of wild horses and burros from public lands is the private livestock industry.

Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) has offered his "Grazing Improvement Act" as an amendment to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012 (S. 3240), also known as the "Farm Bill." If enacted, this amendment would gut the minimal environmental protections that exist for public lands grazed by private livestock and diminish the public's ability to participate in decisions about grazing management. Specifically, the amendment would:

► Extend the term of grazing permits and leases from 10 to 20 years;

► Allow the BLM and the USFS to indefinitely determine when and whether to review grazing permits at their sole discretion; and

► Grant BLM and USFS the authority to issue categorical exclusions to avoid environmental analysis.

Please help protect our public lands and wild horses & burros by asking your Senators to OPPOSE the "Grazing Improvement Act" amendment to the Farm Bill (S. 3240).

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. CALL YOUR SENATOR(S).

Your Senator's telephone number will appear below the sample letter, to the right of the picture of your Senator. Please call this number and ask his/her office to vote against this amendment. Please use the script below to help deliver your message. 

As a constituent who lives in [identify your city and state], I urge Senator ______ to oppose Amendment #2175 (Grazing Improvement Act) to the Farm Bill (S. 3240). The Amendment will weaken protections for public lands already overgrazed by livestock; harm wildlife, including wild horses and burros; and restrict public participation in the management of our public lands. Please VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT #2175 to the Farm Bill.

2. FOLLOW UP YOUR PHONE CALL WITH AN EMAIL.

Simply complete the form below with your information. Personalize your message if you wish. Click the "Send Your Message" button to submit your message to your Senator(s). 

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More Information on Public Lands Grazing & Wild Horses

Photo by Kimerlee Curyl

Welfare Ranching is the driving force behind the mass removal of wild horses from public lands. The cattlemen’s lobby wants to maintain access to taxpayer-subsidized, commercial livestock grazing on public lands.

  • The BLM charges ranchers $1.35 per Animal Unit Month (AUM). [An AUM is the amount of forage necessary to sustain 1 horse, 3 burros, 1 cow/calf pair or 5 sheep/goats for one month.] According to the Congressional Research Service, “This is the lowest fee that can be charged.” It is cheaper than rates charged by other federal agencies as well as states and a fraction of the market rate for grazing on private land. (Average monthly rate $15.10 per head according to a Congressional Research Service report.)
  • In 2012, the Obama Administration announced that it would seek to increase the grazing fee by one dollar to $2.35 per AUM, but Congress must approve it, and the livestock industry is strongly opposing this modest proposal. 
  • The BLM grazing program costs taxpayers nearly $50 million annually. The Center for Biological Diversity estimated that the costs to U.S. taxpayers for public lands grazing on all federal lands was roughly $500 million annually. (Congressional Research Service report).
  • Wild horses and burros are outnumbered at least 50-1 by privately-owned cattle and sheep on BLM lands. Wild horses are restricted to just 11 percent of BLM lands, which they must share with livestock. Yet even on the small amount of BLM land designated as wild horse habitat, the BLM allocates the majority of forage to private livestock, not wild horses. 
  • The BLM administers about 245 million acres of public lands (more than any other federal agency). Livestock grazing is authorized on 157 million acres of those lands.(BLM Grazing Fact Sheet.) Wild horses are restricted to 26.9 million acres of BLM land. (BLM Quick Facts)
  • The BLM authorizes the equivalent of more than 1 million cow/calf pairs to graze on BLM lands vs. a maximum of 26,600 wild horses and burros.