While important, the new rule will not do anything to change the culture of the BLM, which is the real, and enduring, problem. The only way to fix it is wholesale changes of personnel in state offices and field offices. President Clinton failed to do it. President Obama failed to do it. And President Biden has failed to do it. We need a Democratic president with the guts to clean house.
As a trail builder, the process of designing, planning, funding, and organizing the build takes jumping through an almost uncountable number of hoops, EAs, cultural surveys, paleo surveys, wildlife surveys, reroutes, and on and on. I think it is good to have lots of oversight, but all the care we take in designing a trail seems comical when entire trail systems look like they have been peppered with cluster bombs when cattle get grazed in the spring (especially this very wet spring).
I eat beef. I sometime enjoy a burger (or carne asada) after a big ride. But why does building singletrack, which lifts up economies, improves community health, protects landscapes, and instills a love of place in hundreds of thousands of people a year have massive oversight while grazing has almost none?! Especially in a place where we have invested so much time, money, and effort to keep beautiful and a showcase for our community???
I guess judging from the responses to the "threat" of adding conservation to Livestock & Mining - maybe this is a bigger better change than I thought. Income stream? If the "fee or rent" charged is no MORE than the cost of allotments or mining leases, well maybe. You want to bet? Somehow the cost of "conserving" public lands is likely going to be more than that. And it may be - considering the damage & destruction that grazing & mining do the land and the wildlife.
The words "BLM" or as it should be known the Bureau of Livestock & Mining, always perk my ears up!
While important, the new rule will not do anything to change the culture of the BLM, which is the real, and enduring, problem. The only way to fix it is wholesale changes of personnel in state offices and field offices. President Clinton failed to do it. President Obama failed to do it. And President Biden has failed to do it. We need a Democratic president with the guts to clean house.
Where is the income stream to the BLM from a conservation lease?
As a trail builder, the process of designing, planning, funding, and organizing the build takes jumping through an almost uncountable number of hoops, EAs, cultural surveys, paleo surveys, wildlife surveys, reroutes, and on and on. I think it is good to have lots of oversight, but all the care we take in designing a trail seems comical when entire trail systems look like they have been peppered with cluster bombs when cattle get grazed in the spring (especially this very wet spring).
I eat beef. I sometime enjoy a burger (or carne asada) after a big ride. But why does building singletrack, which lifts up economies, improves community health, protects landscapes, and instills a love of place in hundreds of thousands of people a year have massive oversight while grazing has almost none?! Especially in a place where we have invested so much time, money, and effort to keep beautiful and a showcase for our community???
Thanks for this entry! Perhaps there is hope for the Public Land Rule. BLM needs more oversight.
And, no worries, AI has a long way to go to hit O'Keeffe status! ;0)
I guess judging from the responses to the "threat" of adding conservation to Livestock & Mining - maybe this is a bigger better change than I thought. Income stream? If the "fee or rent" charged is no MORE than the cost of allotments or mining leases, well maybe. You want to bet? Somehow the cost of "conserving" public lands is likely going to be more than that. And it may be - considering the damage & destruction that grazing & mining do the land and the wildlife.
The words "BLM" or as it should be known the Bureau of Livestock & Mining, always perk my ears up!