OCR Text |
Show Identification of Lands Valuable for Grazing Recommendation 42: Public lands, including those in national forests and land utilization projects, should be reviewed and those chiefly valuable for the grazing of domestic livestock identified. Some such public lands should, when important public values will not be lost, be offered for sale at market value with grazing permittees given a preference to buy them. Domestic livestock grazing should be declared as the dominant use on retained lands where appropriate. Although it is known that substantial portions of the public lands are chiefly, although not solely, valuable for the production of forage for domestic livestock, the extent of such lands is not known. These areas should be identified and at the same time other public values should be identified. Modern land management methods, developed to prevent the recurrence of conditions which existed between 1900 and the 1930's, preclude the necessity for the Government to continue to control lands that are primarily valuable for grazing. Disposal of those lands which are principally valuable for grazing would reduce Federal administrative costs. More importantly, it would place the management and use of the forage resource in the hands of those who normally manage productive resources in a free enterprise economy, and thus provide an incentive for the investment needed to make those lands fully productive. In private ownership, economic efficiency would tend to cause the lands to move into the hands of more efficient operators and thus lower the cost of livestock and improve the health of the industry. The Commission's recommendation to dispose of lands chiefly valuable for grazing is qualified. Consideration must be given to the fact that the public forage lands are often productive of other values. There is no good information available to define and identify that portion of the 273 million acres under grazing permit that are chiefly valuable for domestic livestock. Some of the grazing land has important watershed values. Wildlife and outdoor recreation are also important uses on parts of the public grazing land. Therefore, some standards will have to be established to identify those grazing lands which are suitable for disposition. The basic criteria for classification should be that the lands be chiefly valuable for grazing livestock, that they have few or no other valuable uses which would not be equally, or as well, realized under private ownership, and that their disposition would not be likely to complicate unduly the management of retained public lands. In identifying those lands that are to be transferred to private ownership, no distinction should be made unappropriated, unreserved public domain and Land Utilization Project lands, and Forest Service grazing lands. Lands of substantial value for purposes other than grazing should be retained. In addition, if important values for public use would be lost, disposition should not be made as, for example, if disposition would result in inroads in a national forest that would increase the difficulty of administration of the forest. As indicated earlier in this chapter, permit policies of both the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service favor the use of public range by established ranchers rather than itinerant operators. Permittees on both Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands are accorded a preference right of renewal. This, together with base property and commensurability requirements discussed previously for the issuance of permits, has generally resulted in stabilization of the patterns of ranching as related to public lands. Usually there is a natural relationship between the public land grazing allotment and the associated base property, and the value of each is dependent on the other. To minimize the disruption of ranching operations which depend upon public land grazing allotments, holders of existing base properties should be given a preference right to purchase at the appraised full market value, when it is decided to dispose of grazing land for which the base property owner holds a permit. This right, which the rancher should be required to exercise within a reasonable period of time, would encourage the continuation of efficient ranching operations and honor the Government's longstanding commitments. Such a policy would also prevent the destruction of values of base properties. Establishment of market value could be done either through appraisal or at public auction. The acceptable price should take into consideration any restrictions on the lands. Whatever method of sale is used, there should be provision for payment to be made over a period of time, if desired by the purchaser. Reasonable rights to public access across lands that are disposed of should be retained by the Federal Government when necessary to make values on other public lands available to the using public. While the retained easement must be for the benefit of the public, it should provide that the Government may control its use when necessary. Thus, if the public interest requires periodic closing of the access route, this could be accomplished by administrative action. The rights to public access across those lands which are disposed of must be reasonable. They should not take the form of "floating" easements. Before the lands are sold, an examination of the 115 |