When is a Rancher, Not a Rancher

In my view, a rancher is someone who actually owns a ranch. You know the place, hundreds of acres of ground they actually own, and can raise their cows or sheep on. Land that’s probably been in the family for generations, or maybe recently purchased. A place they take care of, knowing it needs to sustain those livestock for many more years.

Then there is the guy that owns livestock, but doesn’t own enough land to feed them. These people take advantage of the extremely cheap “rent” to keep their livestock on our federal public lands. The federal government charges only $1.35 per month for a cow-calf pair, even though leasing comparable private land costs an average of $23 a month in the West. They overgraze the land, destroy the natural water sources, and generally wreak havoc on our wild and natural public places. This Facebook post from Western Watersheds, shows how it all works.

Photo Credit Adam Bronstein-WWP

These people aren’t “ranchers,” they are sponging off the federal government, and federal programs allow them to graze their livestock for basically free. They don’t care that their livestock is destroying our public land, and why should they?! There is no accountability, and no management to speak of, coming from Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service range managers. And yet they have a huge sense of entitlement when it comes to the grazing allotments. Some even go so far as to use these allotments, that they don’t own, as collateral to get bank loans.

According to a scientific analysis conducted by Oregon State University, only 1.6% of American beef is grazed on public lands in the West. The overwhelming majority is raised on private lands. So having private ranchers take their private cows and private sheep to private lands would have a negligible effect on beef production, even if those herds currently grazing on public land were entirely liquidated.

And that would leave more land, in better condition, for public recreation, for wild horses, for trout, for elk and deer, for wolves and mountain lions, and for sage grouse. And without cows and sheep to graze off half of more of the annual grass and other forage, federal public lands would be far healthier, waterways would be cleaner, and the scourge of flammable weeds like cheatgrass could be restored to resilient native vegetation.

Photo credit-WWP

It is long past time to stop managing public lands for private profits, at the expense of the public interest. The American people deserve better stewardship, so federal agencies should do better.

Livestock operators on public land  feel they own every blade of grass, every drop of water on the allotment, and that no other animals are allowed to be there. They put up fences that disrupt the native wildlife and can alter the migration routes, or otherwise harm the wildlife.

The very best example of this is the livestock industries’ push to decimate our wild horse herds. Our wild horses live in Horse Management Areas, or HMAs. These HMAs were set aside for the wild horses with the Wild Horse and Burro Act, and managed by the BLM. For some inexplicable reason, the livestock people feel the need to truck or drive their livestock into these areas, then complain that there are wild horses there. This article has interactive maps for all the HMA’s in the west, and shows the amount of livestock living on the land set aside for our wild horses.

In reality, HMAs make up a small fraction of BLM land in the West, only 11%, so there are plenty of other places these livestock operators can put their cows or sheep, for just as cheap. Better yet, they could buy a ranch, become a real rancher, and do whatever they please on their own land. This would save and preserve our public lands for all to enjoy, now and for future generations.