Fiscal Costs of Federal Public Lands Livestock Grazing Fiscal Costs of Federal Public Lands Livestock GrazingThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported the federal government spends atleast $144 million each year managing private livestock grazing on federal public lands, butcollects only $21 million in grazing fees—for a net loss of at least $123 million per year.1• The GAO reported that ten federal departments and agencies operate grazing programson federal public lands: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), USDA-Forest Service,National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Energy, Bureau ofReclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, the Army, Air Force, and Navy.• The GAO admits its report is incomplete because several agencies, including theNatural Resources Conservation Service and the Environmental Protection Agency,which spend millions of dollars mitigating for grazing damage such as non-point sourcewater pollution, did not provi de 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,”2 were also not included in the total subsidy to publiclands ranchers.• Considering the additional direct and indirect costs not included in the GAO report,economists have estimated that the federal public lands grazing on only BLM and ForestService lands may cost as much as $500 million to $1 billion annually.3• The majority of BLM and Forest Service grazing fees are not deposited to the U.S.Treasury, but instead are diverted to the Range Betterment Fund to pay for fencing,water developments, and related infrastructure to support continued livestock grazing(see below).• No report has ever fully analyzed the incredible environmental costs of livestockgrazing on federal public lands.1 GAO. 2005. Livestock grazing: federal expenditur es and receipts vary, depending on the agency and the purpose ofthe fee charged. GAO-05-869. Government Accountability Office. Washington, DC.2 The Livestock Compensation Program was a huge boondoggle that paid farmers and ranchers $635 in 2002 and2003. G. M. Gaul, D. Morgan, S. Cohen. No drought required for federal aid: livestock grazing program grew to coverany “disaster.” Washington Post (July 18, 2006).3 Moscowitz, K. and C. Romaniello. 2002. Assessing the Full Cost of the Federal Grazing Program. Center forBiological Diversity. Tucson, AZ. The estimated cost of the federal grazing program at $500 million is consistent withestimates developed by other experts. K. Hess (former special advisor on policy to the Assistant Secretary forProgram, Policy, and Budget of the Department of the Interior) and J. Wald (senior attorney and Land ProgramDirector, Natural Resources Defense Council) estimated the annual cost of the federal g razing program to beapproximately $500 million. Hess, K. and J. H. Wald. 1995. Grazing reform: heres the answer. High Country News27(18). The Economist magazine has also reported the annual cost of the federal grazing program to be $460 million.Subsidized cow chow. The Economist (Mar. 7, 2002): 39.Federal Grazing Permit LoansWhile taxpayers pay millions of dollars to subsidize livestock grazing on public lands, federalgrazing permittees and lessees are also allowed under dubious federal policy to collateralizetheir grazing permits/leases to finance their public lands grazing operations. Both the ForestService4 and the BLM5 sanction the use of publicly owned federal grazing permits and leases ascollateral for private bank loans.♦ The BLM has documented more than $1.1 billion in liens on BLM grazing permits/leasesin the eleven western states.6♦ Approximately 300 ranch operations have taken more than $450 million in l oans onForest Service grazing permits.7♦ In Supreme Court documents, the State Bank of Southern Utah confirmed that financialinstitutions hold an estimated $10 billion in loans and related credit transactions to thepublic land ranching industry, with the grazing privileges alone worth approximately $1billion.84 The Forest Service “escrow waiver” program is further described in M. Salvo. 2002. “Mortgaging Public Assets: HowRanchers Use Grazing Permits as Collateral.” Pages 271-273 in G. Wuerthner and M. Matteson (eds.). WELFARERANCHING: THE SUBSIDIZED DESTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN WEST. Island Press. Covelo, CA.5 T. Jones and M. Salvo. 2006. “Mortgaging Our Natural Heritage: An Analysis of the Use of Bureau of LandManagement Grazing Permits as Collateral for Private Loans.” Distributed report. Forest Guardians, Santa Fe, NM;Sagebrush Sea Campaign, Chandler, AZ.6 Mortgaging Our Natural Heri tage: 5.7 Mortgaging Our Natural Heritage: 5.8 Brief of Amici Curiae State Bank of Southern Utah in Support of Petitioner, Public Lands Council v. Babbitt, 529U.S. 728 (2000).Predator Control to Protect LivestockOf the millions of dollars that taxpayers spend annually to subsidize public lands grazing, perhaps $5 - $8million is dedicated to killing “ redators” to protect livestock grazing on federal lands.9 Native wildlifekilled to protect livestock include coyotes, bobcats, wolves, mountain lions, and bears.• Number of predators Wildlife Services killed in sixteen western states (FY 2007): 71,196.10• Wildlife Services spent more than $61 million of federal funds to control wildlife in FY 2007; more than$18 million was spent to protect “agriculture” (including livestock) from animal damage; of thatamount, $10,303,903 was spent in th e el......
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 22:15:48 +0000
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