Classifying federal public land grazing permittees

Abstract

This study identifies the characteristics and attitudes of public land ranchers. Data from a random survey of 2,000 U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management grazing permittees (53.5% response rate) were cluster analyzed and 8 distinct groups of ranchers were identified. Each cluster differed with respect to why they were in ranching and how they would respond to public land policy changes related to grazing fees, grazing reductions, and changes in grazing season. Profit motivation for being in ranching was found to be a relatively low objective for all 8 types of ranchers. Washington to 77% in Nevada. The BLM and the USFS manage these lands to provide timber, grazing, recreation and mineral production, among other goods and services.Approximately 85% of federal land is grazed by domestic livestock (CAST 1996). The 2 management agencies administer 29,925 grazing permits across the west. These permits cover approximately 21.6 million federal animal unit months (AUMs) of grazing (CAST 1996). Grazing permit holders account for over half of the commercial beef cattle in these 11 western states (CAST 1996). Levels of yearlong dependence on public forage vary across the West: some ranches utilize federal lands for aThe authors would like to thank the USDA Fund for Rural America for funding this research through the grant "Western Regional Evaluation of Social and Economic Impacts of Public Land Policy." We would also like to thank members of Western Regional Research Project 192, "Rural Communities and Public Lands in the West: Impacts and Alternatives" for reviewing survey drafts and providing boundless support. We would especially like to thank the public land ranchers who took the time to fill out and return the survey form.Oregon impacto que tiepen los cambios en las politicas del manejo de terrenos comunales federales relacionados con las cuotas de pastoreo, la reduccon de las areas de apacentamiento y los cambios en las estaciones de pastoreo sobre la rentabilidad financiera global de la explotaciones. Los resultados indicaron que la ganancia monetaria no es el objetivo principal de los productores que explotan terrenos comunales federales. large part of their seasonal grazing capacity and some ranches, in areas where yearlong grazing is possible, depend on federal lands for most, if not all, AUMs of grazing capacity.In recent times, the use of public lands for non-consumptive uses, such as recreation and preservation, has increased dramatically. In the 1980s, visitor days on USFS lands increased by approximately 50% (CAST 1996). Also, some individuals that don't actively use public land have become advocates of preservation of these lands for environmental reasons. These 2 new and growing groups are typically from urban areas and are much more active and vocal than urbanites from the past regarding rural land use matters. Generally, these new activists feel nonconsumptive resource uses, such as recreation and preservation, should be given higher weight than consumptive uses such as grazing, timb...

Ecosystem Services are Social–ecological Services in a Traditional Pastoral System: the Case of California’s Mediterranean Rangelands

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