Source: Heber Wild Horses
Sweet deal for public lands welfare ranchers, yet they still complain
This year the grazing fee is $1.35 per cow/calf pair or bull or steer. That is the lowest rate the Forest Service is permitted to charge. We have heard over and over again from public lands ranchers that they have to pay grazing fees to put their cattle out onto our federal forests. Their monthly animal unit fees couldn’t feed a house cat for a day. We the tax payers also subsidize the public lands ranchers for so called “improvements” that only benefit the ranchers. This includes the removal of wild horses, which often leads to their slaughter, as well as the killing of millions of other wild animals per year
Not all public lands ranchers are the same or have the same management skills or respect for the forest. For instance some ranchers bring in temporary water tanks so as not to deplete the earthen waterholes which can leave the natural wildlife with little to no water. However, other ranchers have no respect for the wildlife and will let the cattle they run suck the waterholes dry and eat the forest floor down to nothing. At that point they just move the cattle on to the next area to decimate the waterholes and forage.
2020 Forest Service Grazing Announced
WASHINGTON JANUARY 31, 2020 –
The 2020 federal grazing fee, determined annually through a Congressionally mandated formula, will be $1.35 per animal unit months. The 2019 grazing fee was $1.35 per animal unit months.
The fee applies to approximately 6,250 permits administered by the U.S. Forest Service for the western United States National Forests and Grasslands. To help simplify our system for the benefit of grazing permittees we will use the one grazing fee for the National Forests in the West and all the National Grasslands.
For the Forest Service, the per head month is defined as a month’s use and occupancy of range by one weaned or adult cow with or without calf, bull, steer, heifer, horse, burro, or mule, or 5 sheep or goats.< The grazing fee is calculated based on the average annual change in beef cattle prices, leasing rates for grazing on private land in the western states, and the costs of livestock production. The formula was established by Congress in the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act and as amended in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act and has continued under a presidential executive order issued in 1986. Under that order, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per animal unit month and any increase or decrease cannot exceed 25 percent of the previous year’s level.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/2020-forest-service-grazing-announced
Killing as a Government Service
The USDA’s Wildlife Services program slaughters millions of wild animals every year — including endangered species. It doesn’t have to.
June 28, 2019 – by Erica Cirino
The U.S. government has the blood of many millions of wild creatures on its hands.
Every year a little-known program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, known as Wildlife Services, kills an astonishing number of animals. Last year it slaughtered 1.5 million native wild creatures and 1.1 million invasive animals — everything from armadillos to hawks to wolves. This follows 2.3 million animals killed in 2017, 2.7 million in 2016, and tens of millions more in the years prior.
Why is the federal government in the animal-killing business? These deaths illustrate a longstanding choice to provide a protective stance for agriculture and aquaculture at the expense of wild creatures.
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Just goes to show you the realities of a good deal for these livestock producers AND subsidies besides! $1.35 per cow/calf PAIR per month! Pretty good deal, right? I believe I read that the going rate on private rather than public land is closer to $15-$20! Possibly more now. Why would you spend that if you can get the great deal & protection from predators AND subsidies for $1.35? And get to use the allotment as COLLATERAL for a bank loan! How about that?
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Incredible! The average charge to graze livestock in 1855 is not much different than what the BLM & USFS charge TODAY! What is wrong with this picture? Government corruption commonly known as “regulatory capture”. Regulatory capture is a form of political corruption that occurs when a regulatory agency (USFS and BLM), created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or special concerns of interest groups that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure; it creates an opening for firms to behave in ways injurious to the public.
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At this moment in time – it sure seems like “regulatory capture” is what this administration has latched onto!
Sorry if that sounds “partisan” – guess it is, but???
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The rental fees charged for comparable livestock grazing on private lands average $23.40 per head across 16 western states. https://yubanet.com/enviro/taxpayers-fleeced-once-again-public-lands-livestock-operations-pay-the-bare-minimum/
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AND the BLM’s version of equality between livestock & wild horses??? ONE wild horse is considered the same as a full grown cow AND her calf or FIVE (5) sheep! I’m guessing most wild horses might weigh about 700-800 lbs? Doubt a full grown beef cow by itself weighs less than 1,000 lbs PLUS her calf! Equal? Not so much. Dont know much about sheep & their weight. But seems like 5 would be kind of hefty compared to a little old wild horse.
Too bad no one (other than us) seems concerned or interested.
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