An environmental group that wants to end public-land grazing has outbid a rancher in central Idaho for a grazing lease on state land. The Western Watersheds Project (WWP) bid $8,200 last week for a 20-year grazing lease on 620 acres in central Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley.
WWP has been at odds with western ranchers for decades, openly campaigning against livestock grazing on public lands, claiming it’s “devastating to natural habitats.”
Winning the bid in last week’s auction opens the door to other environmental groups competing with ranchers for state and federal grazing permits. Funded by donors, environmental groups such as WWP are not burdened by profit motives from grazing livestock and can gladly outbid ranchers who have held leases for years. Ranchers see it as an alarming precedent.
The auction was held by the Idaho Department of Lands in Jerome, and the lease holder will also be required to pay an annual fee of $800 based on the number of sheep or cattle authorized for the lease.
WWP says it will convert the grazing lease into a conservation lease to allow for more use by wildlife such as pronghorn antelope, elk and big horn sheep. They also say the two streams that run through the land will be protected.
Cameron Mulrony, the executive vice president of the Idaho Cattlemen’s Association, called the auction result disappointing.
“It’s a big concern when we start taking productive ground that is properly managed and properly grazed and decide we’re going to convert it to conservation. Ranchers are themselves conservation-minded in keeping lands healthy while also preventing overgrowth that could result in more wildfires,” Mulrony said.
The leased area allows grazing amounting to 112 AUMs, or animal unit months. Mulroney said the $8,200 upfront cost for the lease would have likely made it difficult for a rancher to profit the land with grazing.
The Idaho Department of Lands manages more than 1,100 grazing leases on 2,700 square miles that are mostly in the southern two-thirds of the state.
