Buyout plan divides ranchers across West

From his ranch near Keota, Colo. (pop. 4), Mike Shull can hop on his horse and ride clear to the Wyoming border. Sometimes he does, just to feel the vast stillness of the Pawnee National Grasslands around him.

But while the open range defines and nourishes him, this third-generation rancher is confronting obstacles common to many in the cattle business these days: Last year, he cut his herd down to half, due to drought. To make ends meet, he took work in the closest town, 50 miles away. "It ain't easy," he says.

Now, however, there could be another option for Mr. Shull. Federal legislation aimed at retiring grazing permits on federal rangelands might just give some ranchers the incentive to sell out and retire in style. Under the Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout Act, introduced in Congress last month, ranchers who agree to retire their federal grazing leases would receive $175 per "animal unit month" - equivalent to the amount of forage that one cow-calf pair consumes monthly. For a rancher who grazes 300 pairs on federal land for six months, that amounts to a payout of $262,000.

Shull, who holds permits to graze his cattle on the grasslands five months a year, sees merit in the proposal, and wouldn't mind having the option to cash in his federal rights. "I might look at that at some point in the future," he muses.

But he's not sold on the idea yet, even with the current challenges of ranch life. "I love it," he says.

A decade ago, ranchers might have deemed such a buyout heresy. Even today, many do. Yet at a time when the cattle industry is beset by prolonged drought and economic uncertainty, ranchers like Shull are taking a hard look at their options.

Proponents of the bill are counting on the willingness of ranchers to embrace what environmentalists have sought for decades: an end to grazing on public lands. "We see it as a solution for cash-strapped ranchers. We see it as a solution for taxpayers. And we see it as a solution environmentally," says Keith Raether, spokesman for the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign (NPLGC), a coalition of conservation groups lobbying for the legislation.

The text of the bill, which calls for a $100 million allocation, says livestock grazing on public lands is often uneconomical, and that many of the 27,000 federal permittees would readily relinquish their rights for a reasonable one-time payment. "This legislation will go a long way toward resolving the ongoing and contentious debate on public lands grazing in the West," says Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D) of Arizona, a sponsor of the proposal along with Rep. Christopher Shays (R) of Connecticut.

But cattlemen are a skeptical breed, particularly when the offer comes from federal lawmakers. Or worse, if it mirrors the agenda of cow-bashing greenies. For most ranchers, the buyout proposal looks suspiciously like a Trojan horse.

"While we believe a person ought to be able to do with their permit as they choose, we also feel that this isn't right," says Brett Shawcroft, a rancher in rural La Jara, in south-central Colorado.

In historic ranch communities like this, the issue goes beyond whether an individual cattleman might benefit from the buyout. What's at stake is the future of the community, says Mr. Shawcroft. "If the ranchers go, there goes the town. If we're gone, they don't need a tire store downtown, or the welding shops."

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