Opinion ID: 761771
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Historical Role of the Grazing Preference

Text: 123 At the time the TGA was passed in 1934, there were many more applicants for grazing privileges than could be accommodated, a fact that Congress knew. See H.R. REP. NO. 73-903, at 1 (1934) (stating that the public lands are now being used without supervision or regulation, and there is constant competition among the various users who desire to obtain exclusive benefit of the forage growth.). Congress charged the Secretary with fairly and orderly allocating grazing privileges on the public lands. It was clear that whatever system the Secretary installed would result in recognizing privileges for certain applicants to graze on the public lands while denying privileges to other applicants. To guide the Secretary in this process, Congress articulated which groups were to receive first priority in the distribution of permits. See 43 U.S.C. § 315b (Preference shall be given in the issuance of grazing permits to those within or near a district who are landowners engaged in the livestock business, bona fide occupants or settlers, or owners of water or water rights....). The Secretary must engage in that process even today when new lands become open for grazing. See, e.g., Webster v. BLM, 97 I.B.L.A. 1 (1987) (reviewing grazing application regarding lands that came under BLM control in 1984). 124 Following the TGA's passage in 1934, the Secretary began the lengthy adjudicatory process of allocating grazing privileges. That process took many years to complete. When the Secretary made a favorable decision on a grazing application, he (1) issued a permit to the applicant, (2) identified the property owned by the permittee that was to serve as the base for the livestock operation and to which the grazing privileges attached, and (3) identified the maximum amount of forage, expressed in AUMs, that the permittee could graze on the public lands. Cf. Federal Range Code, § 6(b) (1938) (describing priority of issuance of grazing permits to qualified applicants). That maximum amount of forage eventually became known as the grazing preference, although that term was not added to the grazing regulations until 1978. See 43 C.F.R. § 4100.0-5(o) (1978). 125 The grazing preference, or the historically adjudicated grazing level, was distinct from the permit to graze. The permit was the ten-year license granted to the applicant, giving him the right to graze livestock on the public range up to the amount of forage allocated by the Secretary. The grazing preference was the Secretary's maximum allocation of forage to the individual permittee and was in most cases, if established prior to 1978 (as most preferences were), based on either the permittee's historical use of public range or the historically available forage on the permittee's private lands, whichever was lower. See McLean v. BLM, 133 IBLA 225, 231-32 & nn. 9-10 (1995). There is no question that FLPMA and the 1978 regulations altered the criteria for awarding new preferences and increasing already-existing preferences, see id. at 235, but there is also no question, contrary to the majority's assertion, that the 1978 regulations continued to recognize already-existing grazing preferences, see 43 Fed.Reg. 29,058 (July 5, 1978) (stating that permittees' adjudicated grazing use, their base properties, and their areas of use (allotments) will be recognized under these grazing regulations.). 126 The grazing preference never guaranteed a permittee the right to graze that amount of forage every year. Rather, the grazing preference represented the upper limit of forage that the permittee could graze if enough forage were available. Under the 1978 regulations, a permittee's grazing preference included both active use and suspended use. 43 C.F.R. § 4110.2-2(a) (1994). A permittee's active use could fluctuate over time based on available forage and the carrying capacity of the land. Active use could be reduced if grazing was causing an unacceptable level or pattern of utilization or exceed[ed] the livestock carrying capacity, id. § 4110.3-2(b), and could be suspended in whole or in part on a temporary basis due to drought, fire, or other natural causes, or to facilitate range improvements, see id. § 4110.3-2(a). Similarly, should additional forage become available, a permittee's active use could increase up to the amount of the grazing preference. Id. § 4110.3-1(a),(b). In short, the grazing preference represented the upper limit that a permittee could graze if optimal conditions prevailed, all relevant land could be placed in active use, and the Secretary allowed him or her to graze up to that upper limit. 127 Under the 1978 regulations, the Secretary could change the maximum amount of forage represented by the grazing preference on a case-by-case basis. See 43 C.F.R. § 4110.3 (1994); Gordon v. BLM, 140 IBLA 112 (1997) (addressing BLM's 1992 decision to reduce grazing preference of permittee who, according to BLM, had lost control of his base property). A decision by the authorized officer to change a permittee's grazing preference had to be supported by rangeland studies conducted over time, unless the change was either specified in an applicable land use plan or necessary to manage, maintain or improve rangeland productivity. 43 C.F.R. § 4110.3 (1994); see also id. § 4110.4-2 (providing for cancellation or suspension of grazing preference upon decrease in public land acreage available for grazing). Thus, under the prior regulations, changes in a grazing preference were based either on the individual circumstances of a particular permittee--e.g., in response to a change in the permittee's control over the base property--or on the condition of particular grazing allotments--e.g., if a reduction in grazing was necessary to improve rangeland productivity. 128 The grazing preference served as a stabilizing force for the livestock industry and promoted orderly use of the range by guaranteeing permittees the right to graze a predictable number of stock on the public lands and by allowing them to gauge how large or small their livestock operations could be. Stabilization of the livestock industry and promoting orderly use of the range were two of the primary purposes of the TGA. See TGA preamble, 48 Stat. 1269 (uncodified). Possession of a grazing preference attached to qualified base property guaranteed a rancher in possession of a permit the right to graze forage up to the amount specified by the preference so long as forage was available. The fact that a permittee's authorized active use might differ from the total forage in the grazing preference did not remove the certainty that accompanied the preference. Permittees knew and understood that there would be year-to-year fluctuations in available forage and changes in the overall conditions of the range, and the Secretary had full authority under the TGA to make individual adjustments in active use. See 43 U.S.C. § 315b (providing that the Secretary shall specify from time to time numbers of stock and seasons of use.). Nonetheless, the grazing preference guaranteed permittees a right to graze from year to year those amounts of forage that the Secretary actually authorized and provided them with the certainty that if forage were abundant, grazing up to their preference limit would be authorized. 129 Despite annual fluctuations in active use, the preference level generally remained the same from year-to-year, through transfers of the base property, and from permit-to-permit, though there is no question that the Secretary could also effect changes in preference levels as described above. Such authority to change preference levels was in accord with section three of the TGA, which gives the Secretary the authority to specify from time to time numbers of stock and seasons of use. 43 U.S.C. § 315b. At the end of the permit's term, if the Secretary renewed the permit, the permittee again had the right to graze on the public lands in accordance with the grazing preference. Thus, the grazing preference remained in place not just from year-to-year within the ten-year term of the permit, but also from permit-to-permit. Grazing preferences could be transferred from one qualified permittee to another qualified permittee, and they were often pledged as security for loans taken out by permittees. 130 Based on my historical understanding of grazing preferences and the importance that they assumed in the operation of permittees' livestock businesses, I can only conclude that these adjudicated grazing levels, whether referred to by the label grazing preference or by any other name, were an essential part of the permittees' grazing privileges. Section three of the TGA gives permittees a preferential right of renewal of their permits; in my judgment, the adjudicated grazing levels are part and parcel of that preferential renewal right. In making the grazing decisions, the Secretary determined that certain permittees were entitled to priority in the issuance of permits and that, based on their historic use of the range, they were entitled to graze up to a quantifiable level of forage. When the Secretary reviewed grazing permits for renewal, he was guided by the original adjudications in which he had determined that the permittee was a preferred applicant and in which he identified the maximum forage level that the permittee was entitled to graze. 131 The Secretary issued those individualized adjudications after engaging in a long process of collecting data, reviewing applications, accepting the recommendations of local grazing advisory boards, and determining whether the applicant was entitled to priority in the issuance of a permit. In issuing grazing decisions, the specific allocation of forage was recorded in the Secretary's logs. The Secretary undertook that process to satisfy its statutory obligation to issue grazing permits according to the priorities articulated by Congress in section three of the statute. The Secretary particularized each grazing decision to the individual permittee. Since the issuance of those original grazing decisions, changes to the grazing preferences have occurred on a case-by-case basis, subject to the Secretary's detailed regulatory requirements. See 43 C.F.R. § 4110.3 (1994) (describing process for making changes in grazing preference status); Miller v. BLM, 118 IBLA 354 (affirming Secretary's denial of increases in permittees' grazing preferences). I conclude that those grazing adjudications are an integral part of permittees' grazing privileges. 132