When the Steens Mtn Wilderness in Oregon was designated in 2000, the legislation transferred 104,000 acres of public land into private ownership of five cattle ranchers and paid them over $5 million in cash for the inconvenience of moving their cattle from a portion of the wilderness to the newly privatized land.

In exchange, the public gained 18,000 acres of land originally owned by the ranchers inside the wilderness, and a Steens Mtn Wilderness that is partially cow-free.

Now four ranchers are requesting permission from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to use motor vehicles and mechanized equipment inside those portions of the wilderness where grazing is still allowed. Ranchers claim they need motorized access to manage their livestock and maintain range facilities such as fences and stock tanks that are located on public land.

In response to the ranchers' requests, BLM is assessing four preliminary alternatives:

A) Unrestricted access for motor vehicles and mechanized equipment

B) Voluntary reduction in motorized/mechanized access

C) Limited motorized/mechanized access when maintenance activities "could not be readily or practically accomplished by stock use."

D) No motorized access for repairing or maintaining range facilitiesHolding a permit to graze livestock on public land is a privilege, not a property right. Having range facilities such as stock tanks on public lands does not give ranchers a 'property right' to use motor vehicles and heavy equipment such as backhoes inside wilderness. However, BLM is incorrectly basing its assessment of the ranchers' access requests on federal law that governs access to privately owned land. 

Comment Points to Consider:

(1) The Steens Mtn Wilderness Act gives BLM the authority to allow "occasional" use of motorized equipment for maintaining range developments in wilderness "where practical alternatives are not available and such use would not have a significant adverse impact on the natural environment." Much of the necessary maintenance can be accomplished with hand tools and packstock, such as fence repairs. Any need for motor vehicle use by the ranchers inside wilderness should be assessed on a case by case basis, not authorized through a permit granting blanket approval for unrestricted or voluntarily restricted motorized access.

(2) Public land ranchers do not have a 'property right' for unrestricted motor vehicle use inside Wilderness. The Steens Mtn Act states that: "motorized or mechanized vehicles on federal lands is appropriate for the construction or mainteance of agricultural facilities, fish and wildlife management, or ecological restoration projects, EXCEPT in areas designated as wilderness" 

This clause clearly precludes unrestricted or "voluntarily restricted" motorized access for routine maintenance of range facilities.

E-MAIL COMMENTS TODAY:
John_Neeling@blm.gov