A May 18 letter questioned why the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) needs a new rule to manage the lands under its control. Fearing existing "rights" would be interfered with. As a public lands rancher, the writer wants us members of the public who own this land and pay the agency to manage it for us, to continue the false belief that public lands ranchers have a "right" to graze their cattle on our lands. That issue has been to court numerous times and the truth is that grazing public lands is a revocable privilege, not a right.
The nickname for the BLM is "Bureau of Livestock and Mining" because the public has been given the short end of the stick. Hunting, fishing, backpacking, watershed protection, bird and wildlife watching get what's left over after the livestock industry has stripped the vegetation from the land, and it's pretty worthless after that so, yes, there is a reason for a new style of management, but don't despair, all of the many attempts to get honest management have always failed in the past and even with the public providing overwhelming support for better management (as always), I won't hold my breath waiting to see the land flourish with tall grasses and wildlife galore.
Michael Sauber
Silver City