<\/p>\n
The first draft of a controversial study surrounding the future use of land in the Weminuche Wilderness was released last week, with Forest Service officials determining grazing will continue despite environmental impact concerns.<\/p>\n
Public ire about domestic sheep grazing in the Weminuche, which has been going on for more than 100 years, drew intense scrutiny when scoping began in 2012.<\/p>\n
At that time, environmentalists and concerned residents pressured the San Juan National Forest to conduct an intensive Environmental Impact Study to weigh the risks livestock pose to the wilderness area.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Forest Service released the first draft of that study, which is open to public comment until April 4. A public meeting will be held March 12.<\/p>\n
The tentative document lays out the Forest Service\u2019s preferred course of action, which includes allowing the continued use of six active grazing allotments and adjusting boundaries to limit interactions with native bighorn sheep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re mandated for multiple use on this landscape, which is deemed as suitable for grazing,\u201d said Rangeland Management Specialist Jared Whitmer, who is the project manager for the EIS.<\/p>\n
In the 760-square-mile Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado\u2019s largest wilderness area, about 166,700 acres on 13 grazing allotments (seven vacant) extend from the northern end of Missionary Ridge toward the Pine River.<\/p>\n
Throughout that area, there are 44,500 acres of potential overlap of native bighorn sheep and domestic sheep \u2013 though fewer than 1,000 acres are currently active sheep grazing habitats.<\/p>\n
Whitmer said the comprehensive study effectively reduces the risk of the two animals coming into contact.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is just the starting point in my mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Risks to bighorn<\/p>\n
The presence of domestic sheep on migratory lands of the bighorn poses serious dangers to the native animal as diseases are easily transmitted when livestock roam the high country during the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not very confident substantive changes have been made to protect the bighorn sheep to an acceptable level,\u201d said Terry Meyers, a conservation director with the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Society.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to see the Forest Service not continue grazing of domestic sheep in high-risk areas of bighorns. There\u2019s room in the Colorado landscape for both, but not in the same place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The presence of domestic sheep dramatically decreased during the 20th century. Almost 200,000 livestock roamed the San Juan\u2019s in 1920, however, the latest records show that in 2013, just 6,100 sheep forage the area in question.<\/p>\n
Though the bighorn population has remained stable, Meyers said herds near livestock have declined over the last three to four years. He said the EIS must make those wild animals the top priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to maintain effective separation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
New vision for public land<\/p>\n
The debate over grazing on public land plays into a bigger theme throughout Western states in what has become a battle between Old West and New West values.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American public\u2019s desires for how we manage our lands has changed, and the Forest Service has not kept up,\u201d said Bryan Bird, a program director with WildEarth Guardians.<\/p>\n
Bird said in the last 10 to 20 years, the paradigm for how Americans imagine the use of their public land has shifted from historical rural uses to a focus on recreation and conservation.<\/p>\n
Livestock grazing, in Bird\u2019s estimation, is the antithesis of the idea of public land.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in the management of public lands for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. Not private livestock interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re obviously disappointed they didn\u2019t use the no-grazing option. This just perpetuates the private commercial interest on our public lands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Royalties are low<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re going to argue livestock grazing on public land results in a healthy stream of royalties for state and federal revenues, you\u2019d be sadly mistaken, Bird said.<\/p>\n
Though the grazing fee for five sheep is set to increase to $2.11 a month in March, costs for the use have been chronically low. For the same amount of sheep, private interests charge around $20 a month.<\/p>\n
In 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity found receipts from grazing fees were $125 million less than federal projections \u2013 bringing in just $143.6 million. Had the federal government charged private industry rates, receipts would average about $261 million a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs taxpayers, we really subsidize ranching,\u201d said Andrew Gulliford, a professor at Fort Lewis College. \u201cAnd that doesn\u2019t even include wildlife services. I support ranching, but I think the economics, we need to take a hard look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gulliford is referencing the cost on the federal government\u2019s wildlife services to cater to livestock grazing, which includes killing predators and expending funds for fire mitigation caused by grazing practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, one of the big issues in the 21st century is high-altitude grazing and recreation,\u201d Gulliford said.<\/p>\n
Leases make life possible<\/p>\n
Still, a few ranchers hold on to the ways of the past.<\/p>\n
State Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, whose family has ranched in the area since 1971, said his operation follows a nomadic lifestyle.<\/p>\n
In the winter, his herd settles on federal and private land in New Mexico. Springtime months are spent on land he owns in Ignacio. And in summer, his sheep graze in the Weminuche Wilderness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be in business if it weren\u2019t for the leases,\u201d said Brown. \u201cQuite frankly, our place would be up for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Forest Service\u2019s EIS will go through the public process over the next several months, with a final decision slated for mid-summer.<\/p>\n
For now, it appears Brown\u2019s operation, as well as the other half-dozen ranchers\u2019 in the area, is safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have one of the old-type sheep outfits, and it\u2019s important to have that public land grazing for our operation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good life.\u201d<\/p>\n