Talking Points on the Environment #8

Strict Government Control the Source of Federal Land Problems, Not the Solution to It

• Overgrazing on public range land occurs because of federal dictates, not in spite of them. Ranchers are required to run a fixed number of cattle on leased federal land -- whether the land can sustain them or not. If ranchers choose not to graze the specified number of cattle, they can lose their leases. Ranchers should be permitted to forego cattle grazing in favor of environment-friendly -- and profitable -- uses.

• National Forests are over-cut, in part, because recreational activities on federal lands at the local level are funded through timber sales. Increased public demand for recreational opportunities results in greater sales of timber in national forests which in turn can lead to over-cutting in some areas. Making recreation self-sustaining through user fees would reduce the temptation to over-cut forests.

• Wilderness designation contributes to over-harvesting in National Forests. When the federal government takes forest land out of timber production by designating it a wilderness area, the Forest Service must increase timber sales in non-wilderness areas to provide infrastructure for recreation, thereby encouraging over-harvesting.

• Current federal land management policies do not provide incentives for environmental stewardship. Regardless of the improvements one makes to land, regardless of how environmentally-responsible a leaseholder behaves , the terms of his/her lease remain the same. The institution of incentives, including preferential lease terms, could encourage greater environmental stewardship. Simply put, if one wishes to encourage responsible behavior, one must make responsible behavior profitable.

• Federal regulations stifle local-level policy innovations that could benefit both federal lands and the people who depend on it. Federal land-use decisions rest largely in the hands of Washington, D.C. bureaucrats -- people with little understanding of either the land or the ranching, logging and mining cultures that depend on it. Further, federal statute dictates the consumptive use of federal lands. Local authorities -- which are closer to the land and the people -- should be granted greater land-use decision making power.

Information from "The Changing Western Paradigm" by Jim McMahon

Issue Date: November 10, 1993

Talking Points on the Economy: Environment #8, published by The National Center for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Ct NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 Tel. (202) 543-4110, Fax (202)543-5975, info@nationalcenter.org, http://www.nationalcenter/inter.net. For more information about Talking Points on the Economy: Environment #8 contact Bob Adams at 202/543-4110 or EPTF@AOL.com.

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