Activists Seek Choice
Grazing Parcel Leases

SANTA FE — An environmental activist group is again trying to get two grazing leases on New Mexico state school trust lands.

The Forest Guardians, a Santa Fe-based activist organization, submitted an application Sept. 1, offering twice the current lease rental for more than 3000 acres of state land near Carlsbad.

The lease covers three desert springs including Cottonwood Spring. John Horning, a spokesman for Forest Guardians, claims the springs are prime locations for the reintroduction of the federally "endangered" Pecos gambusia and the state-declared "endangered" Pecos pupfish.

Other observers note that by strategically tying up springs and other natural waterings, the group can parlay a relatively small investment into a significant disruption of grazing.

That might help explains why Forest Guardians is also negotiating to sublease a 3330 acre parcel of land which includes nearly two miles of the Rio Grande. It is part of an area proposed for a wilderness designation. The sublease would be the first of its kind.

Both leases are expected to be ruled on by state officials by Oct 1.

In October 1996, the Forest Guardians, proponents of "unranching" the West, became the first environmental advocacy group to acquire a grazing lease for what they claimed was "conservation" purposes. They have three separate parcels in New Mexico and are suing in Arizona to open the leasing system to non-agricultural interests.

State school trust lands, unlike federal lands, are required to be managed to maximize revenue. Because they lease only strategic parcels rather than economically viable ranching units, activists can afford to outbid legitimate lessees.

This not only interferes with livestock operations, but also feeds the "green" propaganda machine, which claims that public grazing leases are underpriced.