04/18/05 Call for Wild & Scenic River Act reform

American Rancher April 18, 2005 Environmental groups have used the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to challenge cattle grazing in areas designated under that federal law. Last week in testimony before a U.S. House subcommittee, fifth-generation rancher Bob Skinner of Oregon, said the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is badly in need of reform. Skinner: "The Oregon Cattlemen's Association, the national Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association ask this subcommittee to try and restore the original intent of this legislation. The law should prevent degradation of river values. All of us certainly want that. However, rural families and communities throughout the West are begging for resolutions to this runaway, expensive, and emotionally draining fiasco that's evolved because of misinterpretations of the law." Also testifying before the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health was Mike Byrne of California who said the Endangered Species Act needs reform. Byrne: "It was originally intended to conserve and recover America's endangered species. Over the past three decades the ESA has been manipulated and used to prevent and eliminate specific land uses including grazing." Byrne said litigation has simply rendered the ESA unworkable and ineffective, all at great cost to the public. He said cattlemen support common sense ESA reform that will actually preserve endangered species, rather than create paperwork and red tape. I'm Bob Hoff.