Feds Promise More
Local Land Control

LANDER, Wyo. —(AP)— Top federal land managers are pledging closer cooperation and more local control on grazing allotments.

U.S. Forest Service Director Michael Dombeck and U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Pat Shea made their remarks during a recent tour of the Red Canyon Ranch south of Lander.

"Inherently, people want to do what's right for the land, and you've got to work through those barriers in a positive way," Dombeck said. "We have a deep desire to focus on common goals."

Shea and Dombeck said they would like to see their agencies collaborate more closely on the issuance of grazing permits to ranchers.

They hope one day to issue a single permit to ranchers for public land grazing, rather than have ranchers obtain a permit from each agency.

A collaborative spirit between the agencies would benefit ranchers and the environment, said Ben Pierce, director of the Nature Conservancy in Lander.

The Red Canyon Ranch is owned by the Nature Conservancy, an international, not-for-profit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities.

Since it was established in 1989, the Wyoming chapter has completed projects conserving more than 295,000 acres, officials said.

Concerning local control, Dombeck said he would like to expand an experimental program with the Forest Service in which ranchers monitor vegetation and ecosystem health.

Dombeck said land managers should be allowed to concentrate on their goals for the land and pay less attention to the road map for getting there.

"The more we can talk about a condition we want to see ... the better we will be," he said.