The whistleblower group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility says it questions the BLM’s ability to apply land health standards on all lands, not just grazing lands, particularly when “approximately 1/3 of the grazing lands, nearly 41 million acres, are unassessed,” it says.
Chandra Rosenthal, PEER’s Rocky Mountain director, said BLM’s data shows grazing allotments make up 72% of the land it identifies as failing and in need of restoration, “yet BLM says grazing is absolutely compatible with conservation and could be a use on a conservation lease.”
The group also wonders if BLM will “actually manage the lands” or “just maintain the status quo.”
