New BLM grazing battle brewing in Nevada

Several Lander County ranching families are scrambling to survive after what they describe as the Battle Mountain Bureau of Land Management’s decision to close the Argenta Allotment, where the families have been grazing cattle for generations. Battle Mountain BLM District Manager Doug Furtado countered that he has not made a formal decision to close the allotment, he has simply asked the ranchers to rest sensitive areas through the hot summer months to allow the range to recover from three years of extreme drought. He adds the Tomera family already has cattle in one field on the north end of the allotment and other areas will be available this fall. But the effective closure of the majority of the allotment leaves the ranchers scrambling to find pasture for the critical summer months. The closure is the latest example of what the ranchers say is heavy-handed treatment by the BLM. Furtado takes exception to that characterization. “I’m trying to help these guys be successful, but these are extreme circumstances,” he said. Pete Tomera, who holds the majority of the grazing rights on the allotment, said he has always cooperated with the BLM and takes pride in the fact he has never been cited by the federal agency for improper grazing practices. He also said he has cooperated with the BLM’s concern over the drought and voluntarily accepted a cut of 8,000 animal unit months (AUMs) last year and 11,000 AUMs this year. An AUM is the amount of forage consumed by a cow in a month. Over an eight-month grazing period, the 11,000 AUMs would represent a reduction of 1,375 cows. He added he currently has grazing rights for 24,000 AUMs within the Argenta Allotment, which reflects a 50 percent reduction imposed by the BLM in the 1960s. His acceptance of an 11,000 AUM reduction this year would have been a further 45 percent reduction in the carrying capacity of the range. Tomera said he could understand the closure if the allotment truly could not support his cows, but that is not the case. The last three months have brought much needed relief from the recent drought and the range is in good condition. He has invited anyone interested in inspecting the range for themselves to come out for a tour of the allotment on May 17. In addition to the voluntary reductions in their AUMs, the Tomera family also agreed to a BLM recommendation that they build a 16-mile fence to separate the BLM controlled land from their private land. They hired a contractor at a cost of more than $80,000 and the fence was completed this spring. Tomera and his wife, Lynn, then went to the BLM office in March and had a three-hour meeting with a range conservationist to hammer out the final details of their grazing permit for this year on the Argenta Allotment. Tomera reported that even though the plan included the reduction of 11,000 AUMs, his family could live with it, and the range conservationist also seemed happy with the plan. He made the short drive home to his ranch, completed his afternoon chores and walked into his house around 5 p.m. to hear a message from the BLM that it had decided to close the allotment completely. Tomera said he was dumbfounded...more