07/17/06 Grazing point counterpoint

Jon Marvel is at it again. His Western Watersheds Project has already sued the BLM over its grazing regulations issued last week. He complained to the Idaho Land Board that the state grazing lease program has lost money in the past couple of years and that's hurt the state endowment fund which did have a nearly eleven percent return last year. Mike Webster, a Roberts cattleman and President of the Idaho Cattle Association rebutted Marvel's comments. Webster says he and other ranchers are the ones who have taken care of state lands. WEBSTER "I spend quite a bit of money killing noxious weeds and most of the time it comes out of my pocket. So I feel like I'm helping the state lands." Webster says a conversation he had recently with a friend may be an omen of what's to come. WEBSTER "And he said I used to spend five days a week on horseback checking my cattle and one day going to meetings and now that's just inverse. And he said you know if they keep pushing and I'm losing money constantly he said my duty is to sell it." That ranch land that is now open to hunters and fishermen for sporting access to state and federal lands won't be that way if a developer turns it into condos and townhouses. And if ranchers are forced off the land Webster says it's the state that will have to do some of the work that ranchers now do. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott