The rules of grazing

The death last week of over 100 sheep grazing in the Palisades Range on United States Forest Service land heated up the debate about grazing private cattle and sheep herds on public land. According to Warren Ririe, natural resources specialist with the intermountain region of the United States Forest Service, conservation groups claim that the practice is a subsidy to the ranching industry while ranchers say that taking herds out to public lands is more expensive than running them on private land. According to Billie Siddoway, of the Siddoway Sheep Company that lost 176 head of sheep in a rare stampede and pile-up following a wolf attack, it depends. The Siddoway Sheep Company grazes their 10,000 head of sheep on a variety of lands including their own 60,000 acres, other private lands they rent and their allotments in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Siddoway said the expenses associated with each plot of land vary. They pay a premium to graze their sheep on the stubble of protein rich crops on private land. Grazing allotments in the national forest come with their own set of expenses. According to Ririe, the rancher is responsible for most of the cost of constructing the infrastructure associated with grazing herds including fencing and watering areas. They must also maintain the infrastructure and be able to be able to temporarily corral and water sheep on their private property. However, according to Jon Marvel, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project, a conservation group that seeks to end grazing on public lands, it’s not a question of how much it costs the rancher. The price of a permit does not correspond to the value of public land and grazing leaving American taxpayers subsidizing ranching in the national forest. Marvel said river guides on the Salmon River pay a portion of their profit to operate commercially on the public waterways, while ranchers pay a minimal fee for a permit...more