Government agencies have quietly distributed large subsidies that increased livestock grazing on public land in the Desert Southwest during the ongoing long-term megadrought.
Tag Archives: Sonoran Desert
Arizona Water Protection Fund Hijacked By Agricultural Interests
The Arizona Water Protection Fund (AWPF) was created in 1994 by the Arizona Legislature to protect and enhance the state’s streams and associated riparian habitat. But during the last several years it’s been hijacked for the benefit of ranchers and irrigated agriculture.
Arizona Game & Fish Department Helping Wildlife That Go Moo
The money raised from the annual Arizona Big Game Super Raffle of hunt permit-tags donated to hunting groups by the Arizona Game & Fish Commission is required by law to be used for wildlife habitat improvements. But some of the money is being spent to subsidize ranchers who are permitted to graze cattle on public …
Continue reading “Arizona Game & Fish Department Helping Wildlife That Go Moo”
Livestock Forage Disaster Program A Disaster For Taxpayers
Ranchers in the desert Southwest have received large subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) that have helped perpetuate unsustainable ranching on arid public land administered by the Bureau Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service.
The Myth About Livestock Waters on Western Public Lands
Several years ago I accompanied U.S. Forest Service staff on a horseback inspection of a livestock grazing allotment in the arid Superstition Mountains of the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona. As we neared a muddy stock tank perched on a chaparral-covered hill we scared off several mule deer that were taking a drink. The …
Continue reading “The Myth About Livestock Waters on Western Public Lands”