Lake County Ranchers Want A DO-Over With BLM. Part One

Lake County Ranchers Want A DO-Over With BLM. Part One

Kelly Allen
Kelly Allen
With today's Farm and Ranch Report I'm Susan Allen. If it happens in Lake County Oregon it can happen anywhere. Ranchers there have joined together with groups like the Public Lands Council to oppose a recent inventory of land that would designate it with Wilderness Characteristics. These ranchers are asking the BLM to do a do- over of the land inventory because they do not believe it's accurate. Here's rangeland consultant Andy Reiber on how land receives this designation.

 

REIBER: Wilderness is the most restrictive designation on our public lands. And in order to become wilderness, land has to first be designated as being land with wilderness characteristics. And the BLM has recently in Lake County Oregon designated over 70 percent of the Lake View planning district as having Wilderness Characteristics that is being able to be candidates for wilderness designation now ranchers disagree because they feel that this land does not actually have the necessary characteristics to become wilderness. And this is important because if land actually has these characteristics it can then be designated as wilderness and become managed in a very restrictive manner.

 

Tomorrow, what these ranchers are doing that could potentially help other ranchers throughout the West who might find themselves in a similar situation.

Previous ReportFSA Compensation For Livestock Death
Next ReportLake County Ranchers Want A DO-Over With BLM. Part Two