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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNew Mexico county defies U.S. government over cattle grazing
Yes, my DU'er. Either this county has commissioners who are in love with Bundy or we're burning books ...ok, that last one was in the 90's...I actually suggested to the County Commissioners that we use science and facts instead of feelings and opinions to make decisions. I was 'dismissed.' Another gentleman (one of us) suggested we ALL get a voice at the decision-table, and he got the whole anti-socialism, anti-government, well, anti-FEDERAL-government, how we gotta take the country back, etc. rant.
(Reuters) - A rural New Mexico county has voted to defy the federal government and give a rancher's cattle access to a watering hole fenced off by the Forest Service in the latest dispute over federal control of public land in the U.S. West.
Commissioners in Otero County voted 2-0 on Monday night to authorize Sheriff Benny House to open a gate allowing nearly 200 head of cattle into the 23-acre area despite Forest Service restrictions. A third commissioner was out of town for the vote.
"We are reacting to the infringement of the U.S. Forest Service on the water rights of our land-allotment owners," Otero County Commissioner Tommie Herrell told Reuters. "People have been grazing there since 1956."
But a U.S. Forest Service spokesman said the fence has also been there for decades, protecting a delicate ecosystem surrounding a natural spring as well as an endangered species of mouse from being trampled by cattle....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/us-usa-newmexico-cattle-idUSBREA4C0XV20140513
SamKnause
(13,041 posts)duhneece
(4,104 posts)It may be time to stop all cattle allotments on BLM or US Forest Service lands in fragile desert environments. Especially now that we are officially in drought conditions.
SamKnause
(13,041 posts)dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Cattle destroy wet areas in the forest and desert.
duhneece
(4,104 posts)truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Really getting our money's worth on federal lands...and of course it is not just the cattle industry.
lpbk2713
(42,696 posts)I'm sure the local auto mechanic or the cook at the local greasy
spoon could give a rat's ass how 200 head of cattle get fed.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)duhneece
(4,104 posts)And it's alive & well in Otero County. These ranchers have far more clout than their numbers would indicate.