Opinion ID: 171698
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Requirements Under the TGA to Hold a Grazing Permit

Text: The Secretary of the Interior, guided by the text of the TGA, has the authority to establish regulations regarding the mandatory qualifications for grazing permit holders. See Public Lands Council, 529 U.S. at 745, 120 S.Ct. 1815. The TGA itself authorizes the Secretary to issue grazing permits to bona fide settlers, residents, and other stock owners as under his rules and regulations are entitled to participate in the use of the range.... 43 U.S.C. § 315b. The parties do not dispute that Canyonlands meets the two mandatory qualifications, as designated by the Secretary's regulations. Aplt. Br. 19; Aplt. App. 1356; see also 43 C.F.R. § 4110.1(a) (requiring ownership or control of land or water base property); 43 C.F.R. § 4110.1(a)(1)-(3) (requiring an applicant to either meet citizenship requirements or be an entity authorized to conduct business in the state in which it is seeking a grazing permit). Additionally, the parties agree that stock ownership is an additional requirement for permit holders, as is indicated by the language of the TGA itself. Aplee. Br. 22; Aplt. Br. 26-30. We therefore focus on whether Canyonlands met the stock ownership requirement.
Both the ALJ and the district court found sufficient evidence that Canyonlands owned livestock prior to obtaining a grazing permit from the BLM. We agree. As the ALJ found, Canyonlands acquired four cattle from its agreement to pay Mr. O'Driscoll's trespass fees. Aplt.App. 1358. The BLM would not approve the preference transfer until Mr. O'Driscoll's trespass fees were resolved. Canyonlands paid the trespass fees ($3,371.20) two days prior to the approval of the Last Chance and Big Bowns Bench allotments. Aplt. App. 516, 678-79. In exchange, Mr. O'Driscoll agreed that any of his remaining cattle would belong to Canyonlands. Id. at 516-18, 440-41. Though the agreement apparently was not in writing, the evidence suggests that the agreement was performed. Therefore, substantial evidence supports the finding that Canyonlands was in fact a stock owner and thus met the requirements to hold a grazing permit. Plaintiffs contend that Canyonlands cannot claim ownership of the stray cattle because Canyonlands's transaction with Mr. O'Driscoll did not include the sale of those cattle, making the transfer merely fortuitous. Aplt. Br. 42-22. The record, however, contains sufficient evidence to support a finding that Canyonlands did own these cattle following its agreement with Mr. O'Driscoll. See Aplt.App. 677 & 679 (Mr. Hedden's testimony that Canyonlands owned the four or five head that [it] had acquired by paying Mr. O'Driscoll's trespass fees and that those cattle would continue to graze on the Last Chance allotment); Aplee. Supp.App. 352 (Canyonlands check request to pay Mr. O'Driscoll's trespass fees), 467 (Mr. LeFevre testifying that he branded the abandoned cattle with the Canyonlands brand). Plaintiffs also argue, notably for the first time on appeal, that Canyonlands cannot claim ownership over the stray cattle because the transfer violates Utah law because no certificate of brand inspection is in the record and estray animals are to be taken into the possession of the county after attempts to locate the true owner. Aplt. Br. 42-44 (citing Utah Code Ann. §§ 4-24-11(1); 4-25-4(1); 4-25-5(1)). The government correctly maintains that these arguments should not be considered as they were not raised below. United States v. Jarvis, 499 F.3d 1196, 1201 (10th Cir.2007). Plaintiffs concede that the Utah statutory citations were not provided to the district court, but reply that the underlying discussion about whether the transfer was valid encompasses these theories. Aplt. Reply Br. 12-13. The record citations provided by the Plaintiffs admit of no specific claims like these and we decline to consider them. The government also argues that in the event Canyonlands did not own livestock, it was a stock owner because it was a start-up grazing operation. We need not address this issue because substantial evidence supports the finding that Canyonlands did own livestock prior to receiving grazing permits from the BLM.
Plaintiffs next argue that a permit holder under the TGA must possess an intent to graze, which they claim Canyonlands did not possess. Aplt. Br. 30, 32-33. Plaintiffs suggest that the Secretary has a clear duty to consider the applicant's `intent to graze' as a qualification to acquire the grazing preference. Aplt. Br. 30. [3] However, like the ALJ and district court, we find no direct requirement, either in the text of the TGA or in the implementing regulations set forth by the Secretary, that the BLM engage in such a complicated inquiry. Only after the permit is granted does the BLM's duty arise to ensure that the property is used for grazing. See 43 C.F.R. §§ 4140.1(a)(2), 4170.1-2 (authorizing the BLM to assess penalties or cancel active use if a permittee has failed to make substantial use of the property under a grazing permit for two consecutive years). As argued by the government, it would be untenable to have the BLM engage in a subjective inquiry of every permit applicant's specific intent to graze, when the entire purpose of requesting an application is for the grazing of livestock. See Aplee. Br. 35-36; see also Public Lands Council, 167 F.3d at 1307-08. The BLM found that Canyonlands met the requirements necessary for a grazing permit; the decision is supported by substantial evidence, and we need not go any further.