ONDA Reaches Agreement To Retire 3000-Acre Grazing Permit

The Oregon Natural Desert Association announced Tuesday it’s reached an agreement with a rancher to retire a nearly 3000-acre federal grazing permit outside of Bend. The Bend based environmental group purchased the grazing permit not to graze cattle, but rather to let it sit. They say grazing damages the sage steppe ecosystem and the species that live there. The Oregon Natural Desert Association likes to see grazing permits retired, but Executive Director Brent Fenty says the option is rarely available. In most cases the law requires that the permits be reissued if they’re given up. But Fenty says this particular allotment is governed by a land management plan that allows for voluntary grazing permit retirement. Brent Fenty: “So in this case the Bureau of Land Management had recognized that there were a number of conflicts between livestock grazing and environmental and social values on that allotment so it was one a number of allotments in the area that they were willing to allow the permit to be retired”. Fenty says the permit will stay retired for the duration of the management plan or about 10 years. After that, he says he’d like the BLM to retire the permit for good. OPB