How The West Was Sold

...Cotton Basinger hooks a thumb into his belt, and gazes out over the cactus-and cottonwood-dotted valley where he has grazed cattle for 50 years. Like others in this rural, southern Arizona settlement of windmills, barbed wire, and pickup trucks, he's angry that environmentalists recently were able to outbid another local rancher to lease 162 acres of prime, state-owned grazing land just down the hill.
In May, New Mexico-based Forest Guardians offered about $2,000 per year for the picturesque riverside habitat, which the group plans to restore. It marks the first time in Arizona that nonranchers have been allowed to compete for coveted state grazing leases. But to Mr. Basinger, it's all part of a long-term agenda. "They're just going to make it too expensive to ranch anymore," he says. "And that's exactly what the environmentalists want."
Mr. Basinger may be right. Western public-lands ranchers have long been targeted by environmental groups, who claim that cattle grazing destroys ecosystems, isn't competitive with Midwestern factory farms, and only survives through government subsidies.
But now, after years of fighting ranchers over stewardship of public lands in the courts, local public hearings, and statehouses, environmentalists are turning to their wallets at auctions. Their approach may be summed up as: 'If you can't beat 'em, outbid 'em.'...