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The op-ed by Brian Sexton ("One View: Keep public lands in public hands,"
Aug. 8) demands a response. I, too, was at the recent Interim
Legislative Committee on Public Lands held in Elko and can’t begin to
understand how Mr. Sexton could have been “appalled” at how the federal
land managers were treated. They were treated with the utmost respect
and I am sure that the Nevada Legislature has transcripts for those who
want to check for themselves.
The main cause for concern at the
hearing was the exploding number of horses on the public lands. Several
grazing allotments in Elko County currently have 10 times the number of
horses deemed the appropriate management levels by the BLM. Several
ranchers have been forced to take “nonuse” on their allotment because
the horses have consumed all the forage. Some allotments haven’t been
used by cattle for 10 years and the lack of forage also affects
wildlife.
On top of that, there is no immediate plan to address
the problem and the horse herds typically double every four years. The
allotments currently hold more than 4,000 horses and, with no action,
that number will double to 8,000 in four years. The ranchers will be
forced off the range and the wildlife and horses will die horrible
deaths from starvation and thirst.
Those are cold, hard facts, not “half-truths” or “political rhetoric
directed at making the BLM and USFS seem incompetent” as Mr. Sexton
charged. The forest service did come under criticism from the committee
because it still had not determined the appropriate management levels on
the public lands it administers, even though Congress had ordered it to
do so 40 years ago. It is easy to see how that criticism makes the
agency seem incompetent, but that certainly isn’t the fault of the
legislative committee.
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