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Harney County Court approves and will submit comments on BLM grazing regulation rewrite
Summary
The Harney County Court unanimously approved county comments on the BLM's proposed grazing administration rule and authorized the county judge to sign and submit the letter (Regulations.gov identified as the likely portal).
The Harney County Court on July 10 approved and authorized submission of county comments on the Bureau of Land Managementproposed grazing administration rule.
The move came after a commissioner who compiled the NRACcomments described the draft as "a real improvement," citing new flexibility on turnout dates and recognition of grazing as a beneficial management tool. "The proposed rule gives a 21-day window at the front end or the back end to adjust that," the commissioner said, while adding he had urged an even broader local adjustment window so district staff can set timing tailored to local conditions.
Why it matters: The county's comments, prepared with input from NRAC/MRAC and reviewed by legal counsel, emphasize local expertise in timing and management and press the BLM for causal-factor determinations when grazing is identified as a cause of range degradation.
Another commissioner read a core recommendation urging that the final rule "clearly require causal-factor determinations to distinguish livestock grazing from other causes, direct timely corrective action at the actual cause or causes, [and] avoid modifying grazing permit terms unless livestock grazing is a significant causal factor." The same commissioner also cautioned that geospatial data should be used as a tool and not a substitute for local ground-truth information.
The court voted to place the comments on official letterhead and to have the county judge sign and the administrative team submit them; Regulations.gov was named as the likely submission portal. The motion to approve the comments was moved by a commissioner who had drafted the NRAC submission, seconded by another commissioner, and carried unanimously with three "ayes." The County Judge was authorized to sign on behalf of the court.
The court did not record any amendments to the comments during the session. The county will proceed to format the letter on official letterhead and coordinate administrative submission.
