Grazing Allotments At Issue with Newhouse

Grazing Allotments At Issue with Newhouse

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. A heated back-and-forth between the U.S. Forest Service and ranchers on grazing violations in Okanogan County.

U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says non-compliance letters to the holders of 23 grazing allotments were far more than normal and against agency policy ...

DAN NEWHOUSE ... "The agency did not follow their own rules and procedures in this and in my way of thinking they need to rectify that. People have to have proper notice whether or not they are exceeding the amount of grazing that's happening on those permitted properties. And, it didn't appear the, like I said, the agency was following their own rules in notifying the ranchers."

Newhouse says the Forest Service needs to go back to the drawing board and allow people to have proper notice ...

DAN NEWHOUSE ... "To a person, these people have utilized the forest for grazing, in some instances, for several generations and never gotten one of these notification letters. So, I think it would behoove the agency to really work with them in a more transparent way and I think we'll get a lot better results if there are improvements that need to be made. I think people would be much more willing and able to comply with whatever the Forest Service deems is necessary."

Many ranchers feel the Forest Service's aggressive tactics are in an attempt to establish stricter grazing guidelines before Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue is confirmed, which is now scheduled for April 24th.

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