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Show 118 Jan Knight says, "The Bureau knows it has to work a lot harder, and reach out to be more effective. We're stuck with a very difficult problem. We have to listen to the guy in Boston and then we've got to listen to the local rancher, and they may have conflicting opinions about the land. The local people think that their opinions should count more than the people far removed from it, but our instructions from Congress are clear. We've got the job of trying to please everybody, with the directly opposing desires that people have of how they want to use this land. We try to do the best we can," Hovi does Jan feel, personally, about the controversy? She answers, "I guess I have strong opinions for keeping the land in federal ownership. I think that all this land needs to be maintained for posterity. In private ownership, the land would be used, worn out, and laid waste. Ranchers comjblain a lot about the federal government interfering viith their viay of life - livestock grazing was the traditional sole use of public lands for a long time before people became interested in it for recreation and wildlife. Now wildlife has a very high value, and ranchers resent that so much time and money is spent on improving wildlife habitat. But wouldn't it be wrong if those buffalo, for instance, out there in the Henrys, couldn't find enough food because unlimited numbers of cattle were allowed to graze on the land? Someone has to care what happens to the buffalo, the antelope, the bighorn sheep, and the land itself. The BLM has the means to safeguard those resources, and I'm glad that it does." With careless handling, the land can be ruined for everybody. People viho are intent on making a living usually don't have the time, |