The imagery of the Old West is of wide-open spaces, where the deer and the antelope play -- and ranchers can turn out their cattle for grazing.
Those pastoral scenes, however, were radically changed, much to the detriment of ranchers, with the Bureau of Land Management's decision to allow an environmental group to retire grazing permits purchased for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
At issue is a 4,500-acre parcel in the controversial monument, which the Grand Canyon Trust blocked from grazing by paying $600,000 for BLM permits.
The environmental group has, so far, spent more than $1.5 million purchasing such permits, often paying above-market rates from ranchers who are all but giving up the ghost on making a living by raising livestock, another sign of the demise of the family farmer in this country.
Money talks, it appears, and the environmental groups seem to have very deep pockets these days, not only in forking over the dough for these grazing permits, but perpetuating legal entanglements to protect the desert tortoise, Utah prairie dog and other members of the ecosystem that sometimes seem to have more rights than the humans with whom they share the land.
The decision overrules protests filed by the Canyon Country Ranchers Association, Utah Cattleman's Association and Garfield and Kane county commissions.
Supporters of the decision argue that only 5 percent of the grazing now allowed will be affected.
That, however, is not the point.
The point is that by undermining the efforts of the hearty souls who still struggle to keep the family farmer-rancher traditions alive, the environmental groups are fattening the wallets of the already fat large commercial livestock operations.
They are also trampling on the rights of these ranchers who should be allowed as much access to these lands as those who would use them for recreational or other interests.
The environmentalists cry that this will improve the quality of soil and plant life in the area.
However, well-implemented grazing practices also ensure the further health and welfare of our open spaces.
We agree that our ecosystems need strict caretakers, but the land should be open for use by the public.
Originally published Thursday, January 16, 2003
Those pastoral scenes, however, were radically changed, much to the detriment of ranchers, with the Bureau of Land Management's decision to allow an environmental group to retire grazing permits purchased for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
At issue is a 4,500-acre parcel in the controversial monument, which the Grand Canyon Trust blocked from grazing by paying $600,000 for BLM permits.
The environmental group has, so far, spent more than $1.5 million purchasing such permits, often paying above-market rates from ranchers who are all but giving up the ghost on making a living by raising livestock, another sign of the demise of the family farmer in this country.
Money talks, it appears, and the environmental groups seem to have very deep pockets these days, not only in forking over the dough for these grazing permits, but perpetuating legal entanglements to protect the desert tortoise, Utah prairie dog and other members of the ecosystem that sometimes seem to have more rights than the humans with whom they share the land.
The decision overrules protests filed by the Canyon Country Ranchers Association, Utah Cattleman's Association and Garfield and Kane county commissions.
Supporters of the decision argue that only 5 percent of the grazing now allowed will be affected.
That, however, is not the point.
The point is that by undermining the efforts of the hearty souls who still struggle to keep the family farmer-rancher traditions alive, the environmental groups are fattening the wallets of the already fat large commercial livestock operations.
They are also trampling on the rights of these ranchers who should be allowed as much access to these lands as those who would use them for recreational or other interests.
The environmentalists cry that this will improve the quality of soil and plant life in the area.
However, well-implemented grazing practices also ensure the further health and welfare of our open spaces.
We agree that our ecosystems need strict caretakers, but the land should be open for use by the public.
Originally published Thursday, January 16, 2003
