Rangeland Management

The debate over the effects of domestic livestock grazing are particularly important in the nations' so-called hot deserts--the Mojave, the Sonoran, and the Chihuahuan--because of the fragile ecosystems there and the length of time it takes for damaged areas to recover. GAO concludes that current livestock grazing activity on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allotments in hot desert areas risks long-term environmental damage while not generating enough revenues to provide for adequate management. According to recent data, the economic benefits derived from livestock grazing on BLM lands in the hot desert areas are minimal. The primary economic benefits accrue to about 1,000 livestock operators who hold livestock grazing permit in these areas. Yet many of these operators derive little income from ranching the public lands, who instead place a premium on the traditional lifestyle they are able to maintain via the permits. Conversely, other public land users value the use of desert lands for environmental preservation and recreation. GAO found that BLM lacks the staff needed to collect and evaluate data measuring the impact of livestock grazing on many desert allotments. Without these data, BLM is in no position to assess livestock usage of desert allotments and change usage as needed.

GAO found that: (1) current livestock grazing activity on BLM allotments in hot desert areas imposes the risk of long-term environmental damage to the hot deserts and does not generate sufficient revenues to provide for adequate management; (2) there was evidence of grazing damage occurring on BLM lands, as well as evidence of livestock grazing's adverse impact on several endangered wildlife species; (3) some damaged lands may take decades to recover if they recover at all; (4) the current level of BLM spending is insufficient to perform all necessary range management tasks; (5) although the 1,000 operators who hold livestock grazing permits generate little net income from ranching public lands, they highly value the ability to maintain a traditional ranching lifestyle; (6) BLM lacks the staff resources and data to know if damage is occurring on many hot desert allotments and is not in a position to change an operator's authorized grazing level should a change be warranted; and (7) the cattle and sheep inventories in hot desert regions account for no more than 1.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively, of the national inventory.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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