WHEREAS properly managed livestock grazing is compatible with the health landscapes and promotes wildfire mitigation, biological diversity, open space, species conservation, functioning wildlife habitat and land resource protection; and
WHEREAS the livestock industry is integral to the economy, custom and culture of western Colorado communities and is dependent upon public rangelands; and
WHEREAS permittees purchase grazing permits and subsequently pay significant dollars on range and habitat improvements thus benefitting wildlife and their respective habitats and improving rangeland landscapes.
The Following are the Guiding Principles of Club 20:
- Club 20 opposes any proposals, policies or regulations that would eliminate and/or reduce livestock grazing as an accepted use of public lands and encourages the State of Colorado, Colorado Congressional delegation and the administration to oppose proposals to remove and/or reduce livestock grazing from public lands; and
- Club 20 believes any efforts to reduce grazing impacts on public lands must also recognize that the increasing population of wild ungulates actually adds impacts to rangeland which will require appropriate management prescriptions to address; and
- Club 20 supports the concept of allowing grazing permittees and land management agencies to enter into flexible incentive-based “stewardship contracts” that reward good management with increased management flexibility; and
- In recognition of the positive contribution that well- managed public lands livestock grazing makes to local economies and the environment, Club 20 believes that any reductions in, or removal of, livestock grazing should be temporary in nature and only allowed for the purpose of addressing landscape issues which have been documented with long term trend monitoring so as to better provide a future condition more suitable for livestock grazing, or to provide additional drought forage supplies; and
- Club 20 supports the use of “common grazing allotments” to provide for reserve forage supplies, but only if the stated intent of such allotments is for the purpose of sustaining a critical mass of livestock grazing (as opposed to simply providing a means to permanently reduce or remove livestock grazing); and
- Club 20 supports agreements between land management agencies and grazing permittees that would allow permittees to temporarily convert their livestock use to other non-traditional management approaches that accomplish desired land management objectives and preserve the opportunity for future livestock use; and
- Club 20 believes agreements between a land management agency and the permittees, which result in changes in historic grazing use for the benefit of Threatened & Endangered (T&E) species, should contain “safe harbor” provisions (similar to those afforded by the Federal Government to private landowners) that prohibit the agency from unilaterally abandoning such agreements in the future; and
- Club 20 supports the present grazing fee formula now contained in the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 and requests that any proposed changes undergo significant public review and input; and
- Club 20 urges Congress to adequately fund range permit renewals and (National Environmental Protection Administration (NEPA) to ensure livestock grazing on public lands does not become administratively jeopardized due to the Agencies’ inability to meet mandated NEPA administrative documentation.
Incorporates the Following Resolutions:
- PLNR 91-1 (Formerly 91-2) Livestock Grazing Rights
- PLNR-02-4 Livestock Grazing on Public Lands
- PLNR-09-1 Grazing Permits, Ensuring Compliance with NEPA- Deleted in 2018
Adopted 9/9/2022