 National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 31, No. 17 * September 13, 1999 Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story BLM working hard to renew permits
The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing an unusually high number of expiring grazing permits this year, and the completion of this work is a top priority for the BLM. The good news for public land ranchers is that BLM field offices have made significant progress toward renewing all permits that expire in 1999 and are working hard to avoid disrupting grazing operations if it appears that a permit may not be renewed on time. The spike in this year’s permit-renewal workload is the result of legal, demographic and budgetary factors. To begin permit renewal actions must conform with land use plans and comply with federal laws, including the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other conservation laws. At the time when BLM issued these renewals, the agency, having recently conducted an EIS review, did not need to carry out any further NEPA review of the grazing permits under what was called a categorical exclusion. The exclusion meant that the Bureau reviewed the permits to make sure there were no impacts to such resources as threatened and endangered species, cultural resources, alluvial valley floors and flood plains. If the BLM foresaw no impacts, it renewed the permits; if it anticipated impacts, the agency completed environmental assessments prior to renewal. The situation changed in 1992, when the Department of the Interior removed the categorical exclusion for grazing permits and leases. This meant that BLM needed to conduct an expanded NEPA review — one requiring detailed environmental analyses — of permits or leases up for renewal. In carrying out these environmental analyses, the Bureau must look closely at the interaction of grazing with other public land uses. Accordingly, BLM field offices have encouraged involvement in the NEPA process by interested public land users; federal, state and local government agencies; tribal governments; and the general public. The grazing permits renewed by the BLM a decade ago are now expiring. Meanwhile, the review process has become much more complex due to • increased pressures on public land resources from population growth • the cumulative effects of various public land uses • greater focus on protecting threatened or endangered plant and animal species • greater public interest in the permit renewal process • more legal challenges affecting this process • budgetary constraints on BLM staff resources needed for reviews; and • greater demand on existing BLM staff to deal with fire-suppression emergencies. Further information may be obtained from your local field office or through Tim Hartzell, the BLM’s group manager for Rangeland Resources in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at 202/452-5191 or by e-mail at Tim_Hartzell@blm.gov. |