Fiscal Costs of Federal Public Lands Livestock Grazing The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported the federal government spends at least $144 million each year managing private livestock grazing on federal public lands, but collects only $21 million in grazing fees— • on federal public lands: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), USDA-Forest Service, D National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Energy, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, the Army, Air Force, and Navy. • Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, which spend millions of dollars mitigating for grazing damage such as non-point source water pollution, did not provide estimates of their grazing related costs to the GAO. Other programs that benefit both private and public lands ranchers, such as the “Livestock Compensation Program,” lands ranchers. • economists have estimated that the federal public lands grazing on only BLM and Forest Service lands • Treasury, but instead are water developments, and related infrastructure to support continued livestock grazing (see below). • grazing on federal public lands. 1 the fee charged. GAO-05-869. Government Accountability Office. Washington, DC. 2 2003. G. M. Gaul, D. Morgan, S. Cohen. No drought required for federal aid: livestock grazing program grew to cover any “disaster.” Washington Post (July 18, 2006). 3 Biological Diversity. Tucson, AZ. The estimated cost of the federal grazing program at $500 million is consistent with estimates developed by other experts. K. Hess (former special advisor on policy to the Assistant Secretary for Program, Policy, and Budget of the Department of the Interior) and J. Wald (senior attorney and Land Program Director, Natural Resources Defense Council) estimated the annual cost of the federal grazing program to be approximately $500 million. Hess, K. and J. H. Wald. 1995. Grazing reform: here's the answer. High Country News 27(18). The Subsidized cow chow. Federal Grazing Permit Loans While taxpayers pay millions of dollars to subsidize livestock grazing on public lands, federal grazing permittees and lessees are also allowed under dubious federal policy to collateralize their grazing permits/leases to finance their public lands grazing operations. Both the Forest Service collateral for ♦ in the eleven western states. ♦ Forest Service grazing permits. ♦ institutions hold an estimated $10 billion in loans and related credit transactions to the public land ranching industry, with the grazing privileges alone worth approximately $1 billion. 4 Ranchers Use Grazing Permits as Collateral.” Pages 271-273 R 5 Management Grazing Permits as Collateral for Private Loans.” Distributed report. Forest Guardians, Santa Fe, NM; Sagebrush Sea Campaign, Chandler, AZ. 6 7 8 U.S. 728 (2000). Predator Control to Protect Livestock Of the millions of dollars that taxpayers spend annually to subsidize public lands grazing, perhaps million killed to protect livestock include coyotes, bobcats, wolves, mountain lions, and bears. • • $18 million was spent to protect “agriculture” (including livestock) from animal damage; of that amount, $10,303,903 was spent in the eleven western states with the most federal public land and federal public lands grazing. • percent. • • • complications, weather and other causes (2005): For more information, please contact Mark Salvo, Director of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign for WildEarth Guardians, at msalvo@wildearthguardians.org. 9 in FY 2004 ( agency and the purpose of the fee charged. GAO-05-869. Government Accountability Office. Washington, DC: 6. However, this amount may be higher. The agency annually spends approximately $10.3 million on activities in the eleven western states, and it is estimated that 75 percent of this amount is used to control predators on public land ( 10 bears, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, northern gray wolves and Mexican gray wolves. 11 Funding by Resource Category – FY 2007. USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services. 12 Oak Grove, OR: 1. 13 14 (May 2006). 15 (May 2006)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Factsheet on Fiscal Grazing Costs on Public Lands-BLM Self Dealing Racket-Fox guards henhouse-taxpayer pays-By Govt Accountability Office investigation
Long Island Radio Show covers Wild Horse Disaster
90.1FM
Broadcast from Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
Host: Jim Lynch
Name of Show: Everything is Broken
Date: Tuesday, March 2
Time: 1:00 PM EST
Guests: Craig Downer- biologist and Laura Allen-Animal Law Coalition
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Appropriations Committee Contacts -who Salazar needs to get money from to continue the failed wild horse & burro program. Stop Him !
Committee Members
Democratic Members
| | DANIEL K. INOUYE |
| | ROBERT C. BYRD |
| | PATRICK J. LEAHY |
| | TOM HARKIN |
| | BARBARA A. MIKULSKI |
| | HERB KOHL |
| | PATTY MURRAY |
| | BYRON DORGAN Energy and Water Development (Chairman), Agriculture, Rural Development, Commerce, Justice, Science, Defense, Interior, Transportation/HUD |
| | DIANNE FEINSTEIN |
| | RICHARD J. DURBIN |
| | TIM JOHNSON |
| | MARY L. LANDRIEU |
| | JACK REED |
| | FRANK R. LAUTENBERG |
| | BEN NELSON |
| | MARK PRYOR |
| | JON TESTER |
| | ARLEN SPECTER |
Republican Members
| | THAD COCHRAN |
| | CHRISTOPHER S. BOND |
| | MITCH MCCONNELL |
| | RICHARD C. SHELBY |
| | JUDD GREGG |
| | ROBERT F. BENNETT |
| | KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON |
| | SAM BROWNBACK |
| | LAMAR ALEXANDER |
| | SUSAN COLLINS |
| | GEORGE VOINOVICH |
| | LISA MURKOWSKI |
