Rocky Barker: Can we turn ranchers into rangers?

...If range management is changing, maybe ranching can change, too. Maybe it’s time to turn ranchers into rangers. Increasingly, range managers are seeking to manage for resilience at a time of rapid changes from global warming, invasive species and human development. Unfortunately, on public land, these new imperatives run into a grazing permit system developed in the 1930s, new legal challenges based on the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act and changing economics that favor neither the public nor the 27,000 ranchers whose wealth and credit is tied to the federal rangeland. Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador, other House Republicans and even a few Democrats think extending the terms for grazing permits from 10 to 20 years is the answer. Some environmentalists like Jon Marvel think buying out grazing permits is the answer. Imagine if the permits were changed to meet the tougher new guidelines and standards that many range managers believe are necessary, especially with drought and higher temperatures reducing productivity. In exchange, ranchers would be given credits or even payments for ecological services they provide, including monitoring, fire-fighting, stream restoration, game protection and fuel reduction. You might see more ranchers running a herd of goats because they are more effective for mowing down cheatgrass. Some cattle ranchers might shift from cow and calf operations to yearlings in some areas to make it easier to regulate their numbers as conditions dictate. Financial institutions and universities would need to be involved in reworking these permits so they meet the needs of the public and the ranchers. I’ve seen ranchers dramatically improve fish and wildlife habitat on their own lands, in part because they benefit directly through payments from hunters and anglers. Many do it just because it’s the right thing to do — the cowboy way, if you will. The 21st-century public-lands rancher could take on the role of the ranger, remaining free but still tied to the land, like the men and women who rode it before them...more