WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, June 15, 2006
Report: Mortgaging Our Natural Heritage: An Analysis of the Use of Bureau of Land Management Grazing Permits as Collateral for P

Financial institutions have issued approximately 1,700 loans totaling more than $1.1 billion to western public lands ranchers who use Bureau of Land Management grazing permits as collateral for their debts
Contact: WildEarth Guardians Sagebrush Sea Campaign

Individual grazing permittees, with the aid of lending institutions and the tacit complicity of the BLM, collateralize their federal grazing permits to finance their public lands grazing operations. Both the Forest Service and the BLM sanction the use of publicly owned federal grazing permits and leases as collateral for private bank loans.

Information obtained by WildEarth Guardians from the BLM indicates that the total amount of loans assumed by federal grazing permittees and secured in part with BLM grazing permits in the eleven western states is $1.1 billion. The permit-based loans on national forests total $450 million.

The use of publicly owned grazing permits as collateral for private loans is akin to offering the Statue of Liberty as collateral for private debt. The practice also prevents much-needed grazing reform on public lands - since the finance industry has loaned $1.5 billion dollars on federal grazing permits, they use their considerable clout in Washington, D.C. to oppose any public land grazing reforms that may threaten their investment.

View the report (PDF)