Chat with Chic, November 2, 1984

November 5, 1984 By United States Senator Chic Hecht One of the most important legislative issues facing Nevada when Congress reconvenes next January is the re-evaluation of our federal grazing fee formula on the Public Lands. With nearly all of Nevada's grazing lands under federal ownership, any increase in the current formula will have a dramatic effect on our State's farming and ranching economy. Under current law, the Bureau of Land Management and U. S. Forest Service must com-plete extensive studies and submit a formal recommendation to Congress by March of next year. This proposal must be reviewed by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, on which I sit, before Congress makes its final determination on a new grazing fee formula by January 1, v1986. Many recent studies have suggested that the current grazing fee of $1.37 per animal-unit-month (AUM) is too low. Some have cited private grazing fees of $7-10 per AUM as evidence that the federal government (i.e. the taxpayer) is somehow subsidizing ranchers who are lucky enough to enjoy federal grazing privileges. Others have sought \ v to characterize ranchers' profitable subleasing of their federal grazing allotments, as an unjust enrichment at the expense of the federal taxpayer. These accusations may make good newspaper headlines, but we in Nevada know that the grazing fee issue is much more complicated. Anyone who has travelled through rural Nevada and seen the "For Sale" signs on countless ranches know that our ranching economy is far from booming. One doesn't have to be a genius to realize why this is so". Meat prices have lagged far behind the enormous increases "in ranch operating costs over the past few years. Farm credit is tight and interest rates are still well above 10%. And to make matters worse, Nevada has experienced two consecutive years of unprecedented flooding, causing millions of dollars of damage to crops and water facilities along our state's rivers and streams. As Congress attempts to separate fact from fiction in next year's grazing fee debate, I intend to make sure my colleagues. never lose sight of this bigger picture. I don't oppose the notion of a periodic re-appraisal of all federal "user fees," but I sure Chat with Chic November 2, 1984 - ? Page two A % . . - ' . ? * '' - don't see the logic in destroying a vital segment of our agricultural economy for the sake of adding a few million dollars to our federal treasury. This would be "penny wise and pound foolish." ? I look forward to working with Nevada's ranchers and farmers on the grazing fee formula over, the next year, and I will be sure to keep you updated on any progress on this issue in the months ahead.