Grazing vs. Conservation

There’s a 10 year old battle that’s been going on between cattle and sheep ranchers and conservationists and recreationalists and The Idaho Land Board is trying to resolve it. It’s all about bidding for state land leases that have typically and traditionally been under the control of ranchers. From the ranchers perspective they have been on these lands for generations, have built their whole lives, let alone their business models on the concept that they could pay very reasonable fees to let their livestock graze on public lands. Here’s what the Idaho Statesman said: “The 1.8 million acres of state grazing land have long been identified by financial experts and economists as an under-performing asset among the state's 2.4 million acres of endowment lands - lands left to the state by the federal government when Idaho was formed. The Idaho Constitution requires the Land Board - made up of the governor, attorney general, secretary of state, controller, treasurer and state schools superintendent - to maximize the long-term return for the schools and other trustees.

 Environmentalists want to lease the land and leave it alone. Noble thought say many, but according to Carl Ellsworth President of the Idaho Cattleman’s Association, their could be an enviro backfire: “I think it would have a detrimental impact on most of our species, especially endangered species such as salmon and bull trout.”

And on humans via starvation.