Enviro Coalition Buys Out Large Grazing Permit in Wyoming
A coalition of conservation groups has agreed to pay $250,000 to a Wyoming rancher to buy out her federal grazing permit, a deal that will keep cattle out of a 137-square-mile area that abuts Grand Teton National Park. The land is home to grizzly bears, wolves, lynx, bald eagles, and numerous other species. This is just the latest incidence in a spreading trend that has environmentalists negotiating directly with ranchers to remove cattle from public lands in the West, where the livestock are accused of causing erosion, damaging riparian areas, and threatening endangered species. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lease about 250 million acres for grazing at below-market rates that don't cover the cost of the government program.
straight to the source: USA Today, Tom Kenworthy, 01 Aug 2003
from the Grist archives: Rivers of crud —grazing saddles the West with a heck of a problem—by Susan Zakin in The Main Dish
Where the Sahara meets the Atlantic
Meet your new national parks chief
Does anyone still care about “the land”?
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