DuBois Column

More wolves, more monuments and more Michelle…

Obama ignores CCA

President Obama has proved, once again, that the pen is mightier than the entire U.S. Congress.

We have three new National Monuments, one of which – The Browns Canyon National Monument – is of special interest.  This is the area where, as I’ve written before, the stakeholders reached agreement on the designation and the grazing language to accompany the designation.  Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.) introduced legislation including the excellent grazing language which had been developed by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA).  The legislation had not passed when on Feb. 19 of this year President Obama issued a Proclamation creating the 21,586 acre monument.

Prior to the Proclamation being issued the CCA released a statement saying that certain points “are intended to be part of the declaration.”  Let’s take a look at those points and what Obama actually did.

CCA – “Motorized access must continue to be allowed for permit administration, range improvements, and water maintenance.”

Obama – “Except for emergency or authorized administrative purposes, motorized and mechanized vehicle use in the monument shall be allowed only on roads and trails designated for such use, consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.”

No mention is made of range improvements or water maintenance.  It would appear such access is left solely to the discretion of the land management agencies (BLM & Forest Service).

CCA – “Explicit language must be written into the designation that allows sheep and cattle producers to trail their livestock to and from federal grazing allotments through portions of the designated area.”

Obama – There is no language guaranteeing livestock trails.

CCA – “Language must be included in the designation implementation to ensure that changes in the numbers of authorized livestock are based on facts, and not the whim of individual land managers.”

Obama – “Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the BLM or the USFS in issuing and administering grazing permits or leases on lands under their jurisdiction shall continue to apply with regard to the lands in the monument, consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.”

This is the standard grazing language, with the relatively new “consistency” requirement.  And whether or not a permit, range improvement or standard ranching practice is consistent with “the care and management of the objects” will be determined by the local land managers.

CCA – “Language that would explicitly ensure permits will be transferable to new permittee/owners in the exact same manner as was the case prior to the designation of the national monument is also required.”

Obama – There is no such language in the Proclamation.

There were several other items but I think you should get the point on the administration’s receptivity to protecting livestock grazing in Proclamations designating National Monuments.

CCA Executive Vice President Terry R. Fankhauser tells me the association will be working to get these concerns addressed in the management plan and points to the language about “maximizing” input from the state.  Fankhauser says the association has reached out to Senator Bennet and Governor Hickenlooper both of whom agreed to work on ensuring that grazing would continue without changes or restrictions.

Colorado rancher Tim Canterbury, Chair of the Public Lands Council, says, “…all we can do is ask for a seat at the table, and hope that the voices of ranchers will be heard and respected.”  “We stand by the fact that a presidential declaration is not in the best interest of the agricultural community” said Canterbury and emphasized the CCA and PLC will keep pushing for legislation that will “clarify grazing permit rights for this and any future designation.”

In Utah, problems continue with livestock grazing on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  During the recent debate on the Keystone Pipeline Senator Hatch (R-Ore.) introduced an amendment which read livestock grazing should be allowed to continue in the monument “subject to such reasonable regulations, policies and practices as the Secretary of Interior considers to be necessary, on the condition that the Secretary shall allow the grazing levels to continue at current levels to the maximum extent practicable.”

While I’m not overly fond of that language, it does demonstrate there are problems with the grazing of livestock in National Monuments and it is finally getting some attention in Congress.  However, are we going to address this one monument at a time?  Seems to me we need some standard language that would be applicable to all monuments.  Otherwise we’ll end up with a hodgepodge of different grazing regs for each monument.

More wolves

The USFWS has completed their annual survey and for 2014 they found 109 Mexican wolves, as compared to 83 counted at the end of 2013 and 50 in 2010.  The survey confirmed there are a total of 19 packs, with a minimum of 53 wolves in New Mexico and 56 wolves in Arizona. 

“In 1982, the Mexican wolf recovery team recommended a population of at least 100 animals in the wild as a hedge against extinction; until we initiated the first releases in 1998, there had been no Mexican wolves in the wild in the United States since the 1970s,” said Southwest Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle.  “Although there is still much to be done, reaching this milestone is monumental!” 

I’m beginning to really dislike anything with the word monument in it.

Meanwhile, state senator Jeff Steinborn has introduced legislation to create the Rio Grande Trail, a 500-mile, statewide recreation trail that stretches from Colorado to Texas.  Steinborn says this could be equivalent to the Appalachian Trail or the Continental Divide Trail.

I doubt it but I do have a prediction.  They’ll be back in a few years to rename it the Mexican Wolf Trail.

Dietary guidelines

Are you ready to be “transformed”?  The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) has released its 571 page nutrition guidelines report detailing plans to “transform the food system.”   “Align nutritional and agricultural policies with Dietary Guidelines recommendations and make broad policy changes to transform the food system so as to promote population health, including the use of economic and taxing policies to encourage the production and consumption of healthy foods and to reduce unhealthy foods,” says the report.  As we warned you, they are pushing a “plant-based” diet for health reasons and saying their recommendation to eat less meat will also “maximize environmental sustainability.”

No wonder the First Lady recently said her efforts were bringing about a food “culture change.”  Remember, these guidelines, if adopted, will affect all government food assistance programs, including the military and the school lunch program.  Lest we forget, the school lunch program now serves breakfast, lunch and after school meals (the D.C School System recently bragged they had over 10,000 kids in their after school food program).

The report says, “New well-coordinated policies that include, but are not limited to, agriculture, economics, transportation, energy, water use, and dietary guidance need to be developed.”  The report even includes having “trained interventionists” in your community and “electronic tracking and monitoring of the use of screen-based technologies” i.e., computer and tv time.

That’s culture change alright, being rammed, literally, down our throats.

Till next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget to check your, uh, diet.

Frank DuBois was the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003, is the author of a blog: The Westerner (www.thewesterner.blogspot.com) and is the founder of The DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

A version of this column appeared in NM Stockman and Livestock Market Digest