WildEarth Guardians

Saturday, June 17, 2006
Report says Loans Fuel Grazing Woes

Public lands ranchers in the west have used their federal grazing permits as collateral for more than $1 billion in loans
Contact: Albuquerque Tribune

Santa Fe, NM - A report released by two environmental groups has found that ranchers in New Mexico and other Western states have used their federal grazing permits as collateral for more than $1 billion in loans.

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians and the Sagebrush Sea Campaign, in a report released Thursday, say the loans are a barrier to improving public land policy.

Loans prevent livestock from being reduced in times of drought, allow grazing that harms streams and is harmful to certain threatened species like the bull trout, they say.

But New Mexico Cattle Growers Association director Caren Cowen says federal grazing permits are just a small part of collateral for loans, which are paid back yearly.

"These folks are trying to destabilize the grazing industry by attacking our lenders," Cowan said.

The report, titled Mortgaging Our Natural Heritage, is the result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians in 2002.

Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Tribune - Reprinted with permission