Musket Man
New member
Musket, multiple use doesn't just mean grazing,mining, or farming. It means what it says. The land managers have to weigh all the uses that go along with those aforementioned uses. When one conflicts with another then there's going to be some regulations attached. Off road vehicle use is usually not compatible with hikers. So the least amount of disturbance usually wins the day. Running 1000 head of cattle on 600,000 acres of fragile habitat might have been to detrimental to all the other uses of that area. Maybe mule deer, Big Horn sheep, and other wildlife were taking it in the shorts because the cattle eat to much vegetation. Therer range enclosures that managers look at to see how much degradation the cattle are doing. When they eat more than the required amount to be left then there's reductions that take place by law. The "FEDS" are the ones entrusted to make sure the lands aren't over grazed.
Endangered species are also given special treatments and regulations are set in place to protect them.
I think ranchers and farmers are pretty good stewards of their private lands, I just think the feel the same way about the publics. Most of our state lands in Montana are grazed to death, in some instances not even domestic sheep will use them. The Federal lands of the Forest Service are usually Ok, I'm not so keen on the grazing that takes place on BLM. It might be better than what I'v seen but I won't hold my breath.
Bundy utilized public lands only, and that was his family's mistake. If he were just leasing private lands, and the owner decided to stop leasing the grazing to them, you would be alright with that because your in favor of private property rights? What about the publics rights to the lands that Bundy leased? Do you think there's any that go along with them?
I have not seen any proof that cows were harming the tortoise or any other use of the land. Over 60% of the tortoise in the DTCC where there are no cows have diseases and are dying so that tells me the tortoise's problem is not cows. Bundys grazing allotment goes with the deeded land he owns so to me it is different then leasing private land. Nevada is about 85% public land and most ranchers graze mostly on public land and if they loose the public land they are pretty much out of business and the deeded land they do own is not worth much without the grazing allotment that goes with it.