Risk lurks in Sierra waters

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dave54
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Location: where the Sierras, Cascades, and Great Basin meet.

Post by dave54 »

It's not up to the Forest Service to eliminate grazing from Wilderness Areas. It's up to Congress.


The Wilderness Act of 1964; section 4(d):

...the grazing of livestock, where established prior to September 3, 1964, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture...



Since 1964 both parties have held the majorities in Congress and both parties have occupied the White House. Neither party has put forth any effort to reform the Taylor Grazing Act nor the Mining Act of 1872 (which also trumps the Wilderness Act). The last serious attempt was in 1993 and it found no support with the democratic majority in Congress or Clinton's White House.


As briefly touched on in the article, public land grazing keeps private ranchland open and undeveloped. The grazing helps slow down urban sprawl in the Sierra foothills. If a few cattle in the highcountry means the lower elevation private lands stay undeveloped, then I consider that a small price to pay. The tradeoffs are worth it to me.
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