2002 Beef Business Bulletin Stories Archive
Ranchers Want Uniform Protocol on Rangeland
Leadership members of the Public Lands Council on Nov 13-15 flew to Washington, D.C., for meetings on federal land issues. Coming all the way from Arizona, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming, the 10 cattle producers filled the doorways of agency officials and congressional staff to discuss movement on priority issues such as grazing permit renewal, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) standards, and rangeland monitoring, assessment and inventory.
“One of the main reasons we’re here is to discuss the National Range Assessment and see if we can get all the
agencies working on the same page to develop a uniform protocol for monitoring and assessing the health of rangelands,” says K.L. Bliss, Montana cattle rancher and Public Lands Council president.
“We feel like we’re doing a good job managing the land, but we need more data and a better system in place to show that and help show where we can improve.”
NCBA’s Washington staff arranged meetings for the Public Lands Council, NCBA and Society for Range Management to meet with agency staff at the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, and USDA’s Forest Service, Agriculture Research Service and National Resource Conservation Service.
“Without the NCBA Washington office, we really would not have such great opportunities to hold meetings like this,” says Bliss. “They are extremely supportive of the PLC and top federal lands issues and the staff worked tirelessly with us on major issues and lined up important meetings for us. This is a great example of how NCBA helps cattlemen from all across the country have their voices heard in Washington, D.C.”
The priority discussed in the meetings was coordinating an assessment program that will be uniform across the country. “We hope USDA Secretary Ann Veneman and Interior Secretary Gale Norton will make this a priority,” says Bliss. “We plan to hold everybody’s feet to the fire on this. That’s how you get things done in this town.”
Members of the Public Lands Council recently traveled to the nation’s capital to discuss range issues. Members of the Public Lands Council arrive at the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Producers included John Schultz (Mont.), John O’Keefe (Ore.), Mike Byrne (Calif.), Joel Bousman (Wyo.), K.L. Bliss (Mont.), Skye Krebs (Ore.), Keith Winters (N.D.), and Andy Groseta (Ariz.).