Sheep Industry News November 2023

President’s Notes BRAD BONER ASI PRESIDENT

BLM's Extreme Alternative

W ell, the Biden Administration is at it again. This time the Bureau of Land Management has chosen the most extreme alternative as their “Preferred Alternative” for the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan here in Wyoming. The draft plan affects 3.8 million acres in southwest Wyoming and proposes to significantly reduce the grazing AUMs and remove all lethal predator control from being done on these federal lands. In addition, it greatly restricts any oil and gas activities and seeks to eliminate thousands of miles of roads used by recreationalists to access and enjoy these lands. As has become customary for the Tracy Stone-Manning led BLM, this decision was made in a complete vacuum with no input or discussions with state and local governments or the stakeholders the decision will affect most. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said it best, “this draft does not accurately reflect the 12-year cooperative process under taken during my entire time in office as governor and as state treasurer, three presidential administrations, a multitude of public meetings, cooperating agency input, technological and scientific advancements, and millions of taxpayer dollars. So, it is completely incomprehensible that the BLM selected for its Agency Preferred Alternative, Alternative B, one considered an outlier in previous attempts at issuing an RMP one that was meant to serve initially as a bookend – an alternative with the most resource use restrictions and concomitantly with the largest socioeconomic impacts. Over a decade's worth of con tributions from local stakeholders, cooperators, counties and state agencies are either falling on deaf ears or disingenuously being thrown by the wayside with this decision.” ASI joined the Wyoming Wool Growers Association in submitting written requests to withdraw the proposal and reissue for comment with industry input. It is incomprehensible to me how easily this administration dismisses decades of work on a cooperative working relation ship that has proven itself time and time again to be a win-win for all involved. I can only imagine how difficult this must be for those employees within the BLM agency who have spent their entire career developing these relationships and have seen the resulting benefits to the resources they manage. To now have those important relationships compromised because the appointees of the agency want to push their own extreme agenda is certainly disheartening and frustrating to all involved. Unfortunately, it appears as we move into a presidential election year that the current administration has a sense of urgen cy to complete its agenda no matter the cost. Hang on everyone, the next 14 months are going to be very bumpy. Until next time, keep it on the sunny side.

4 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org