New Federal Grazing
Rules To Hit Wyoming

CASPER, Wyo. —(AP)— New federal grazing and rangeland management standards that sparked a political controversy when they were approved in 1995 will be put into place on 20 grazing allotments in four Wyoming counties.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it will use the standards and guidelines to evaluate the environmental quality of allotments in Natrona, Goshen, Platte and Crook counties.

The new rules were proposed in August 1995 but then submitted to the Wyoming Resource Advisory Council for its review in 1996. The council was one of 23 formed in 12 western states to develop local guidelines for rangeland reform.

But the Wyoming council lost its federal advisory status after Gov. Jim Geringer and U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt deadlocked on questions surrounding membership of the council.

The BLM eventually developed a separate range management plan last summer that incorporated some of the Wyoming council's recommendations.

The new standards and guidelines cover 20 grazing allotments in the BLM's Platte River and Newcastle resource areas, which include a total of more than 650 allotments.

The healthy rangeland standards apply to all uses of BLM lands within the grazing allotments, but the guidelines for grazing management apply only to ranchers.

The rules are supposed to maintain and protect the health of rangeland in four areas: properly functioning watersheds; proper cycling of water, nutrients and energy; water quality that meets state standards; and protection of habitat for certain species.