Dear Progressive Rancher Readers,
If you have worked with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), you have probably heard that you need “NEPA and a decision” to take action.
It is true that most actions on public land managed by the BLM first need to be analyzed and disclosed to the public under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and then authorized through a decision under the Code of Federal Regulations. However, some common grazing issues can be addressed more efficiently than you might think. Read on to find out how you can benefit from administrative tools developed by BLM Nevada that can help you adjust grazing to address two landscape issues: drought and cheatgrass.
Drought and cheatgrass are so common across Nevada that NEPA analysis has been completed on a variety of actions addressing them. These NEPA analyses can make it more efficient either to modify your permit terms and conditions (temporarily or permanently) or to plan a project outside your permit. In this article, I will discuss two tools that are available, and give some basic information on how to use them. These tools are the Drought Environmental Assessments (Drought EAs) (https://on.doi.gov/3CSBo5Y bottom right of page), and the Targeted and Prescribed Grazing Environmental Assessment (https://bit.ly/3MsVEhR)
In addition to reading this article, you may also wish to attend one of the upcoming workshops:
- Ely, Dec. 5, 3-5 p.m., Bristlecone Convention Center
- Elko, Dec. 7, 3-5 p.m., Western Folklife Center
- Winnemucca, Dec. 9, 3-5 p.m., Convention Center
- On-line virtual workshop, Dec. 13, 3-5 p.m. To register for the virtual workshop, please email m.brown@agri.nv.gov
The purpose of these workshops is to answer questions and discuss the types of flexibilities that have been analyzed and how to request drought or cheatgrass related adjustments or projects and provide information to assist BLM in collaboratively developing project plans with you.
These workshops will not be the time to develop adjustments or projects for individual grazing permits. Instead, they will give you an idea of the information and lead time your BLM grazing staff will need to help you develop these.
Step 1: Know your Permit/Lease
The first thing you want to do is re-read your actual permit. Can you adjust operations within your existing terms and conditions? What temporary modifications would you need in order to meet management goals? In some authorizations, terms and conditions are minimal, and include livestock kind, numbers, total AUMs, on date, off date and allotment. Other authorizations may include more involved terms and conditions, including individual pasture dates, multi-year rotations, or other intricacies. If you have an Allotment Management Plan (AMP) you will need to read that thoroughly also. All permit Terms and Conditions are available in the BLM Reporting Application – Rangeland Administration System Reports: https://reports.blm.gov/reports.cfm?application=RAS.
Step 2. Look at the Drought EA for your District
Each BLM district in Nevada, except Southern Nevada, has a “Drought EA.” District Drought Management Environmental Assessments were finalized in 2013, and are still very relevant. The purpose of these documents is to identify the effects of drought on rangelands in order to alleviate the impacts of authorized uses and activities on natural resources that are at risk of being adversely affected by drought. This broad purpose allowed for alternatives with a variety of possible management responses to conditions. These alternatives provide flexibility on how each modification is shaped, depending on specific conditions.
Step 3. Consider Specific Impacts and Proposed Responses
Drought Indicators such as the U.S. Drought Monitor generally show where drought impacts may be greatest, but actual confirmation of on-the-ground drought impacts is needed to confirm the most appropriate response. It’s important to gather information and photographs from throughout your permitted allotment(s) documenting impacts such as amount of forage in different locations, and water availability. This information will greatly assist your conversation with your Rangeland Management Specialist, and will likely help expedite the process.
Once the drought impacts have been confirmed, the suite of potential responses can be explored. There are opportunities to change the season of use outside the terms and conditions of the grazing authorization, change the timing or rotation of pastures, add temporary water developments or other infrastructure, as well as a variety of other responses. The outcome of any proposed drought response must include a reduced impact on the ecosystem resources that are already being taxed during the drought.
Step 4. Remember the Decision Timeframe: 45 Days Plus Your Planning Time
Start your conversation early with your BLM grazing staff! According to Federal regulations, the decision process itself requires 45 days for a 15-day protest period and 30-day appeal period. This is in addition to whatever time is needed to get the information and data together, develop the plan with your BLM grazing staff, and allow them to write the decision and issue it.
Full Force and Effect Decisions not Appropriate for Many Situations
Although there are sometimes situations in which decisions can be expedited, the ability to issue a decision in full force and effect, in accordance with 43 CFR 4110.3-3(b) is limited to changes to terms and conditions to the permit, and is not available for range improvements, including water hauls and temporary fencing. In addition, there is a high standard required for justification for using full force and effect, and it is not appropriate for many situations, so please do not expect this option to be available.
Targeted and Prescribed Grazing
The Targeted and Prescribed Grazing EA is ready for use in 5 of the 6 districts in Nevada. This tool is not available in southern portion of Nevada because it only analyzed the Great Basin Ecoregion. The project purpose is to manage invasive annual grasses by using a variety of livestock grazing practices in the Great Basin Ecoregions of Nevada. This allows for projects to be developed that are within the scope of the EA, including either targeted and prescribed grazing projects and include various monitoring components and criteria. Once the projects are completely cooperatively developed, there would be a decision issued that would describe the objectives of the project as well as defining when the project would end, both by treatment application as well as long term. The decision would also include project specific terms and conditions and monitoring required pre or post treatment (such as production). So, this does not actually change your permit or lease, but it can run for multiple/many years from one decision if conditions are met. These videos have more details on this topic:
Targeted Grazing of Annual Grasses in the Great Basin Ecoregions in Nevada (Pt. 1) https://vimeo.com/430768958
Targeted Grazing of Annual Grasses in the Great Basin Ecoregions in Nevada (Pt. 2) https://vimeo.com/430768777
The table above depicts the variety of options and alternatives for project development. The analysis was done to understand the impacts and benefits of both targeted and prescribed grazing practices during different seasons and in different ecological sites. All projects issued with a decision based on this EA use the following definitions:
Targeted grazing is used to achieve the objective of creating fuel breaks to protect adjacent areas, and therefore does not have an objective of maintaining the ecological integrity on the project site itself. Due to the nature of these projects, they will be conducted in areas already dominated by annual grasses and will not include other resources such as riparian areas or important habitats.
Prescribed grazing is used to achieve the primary objective of vegetation management to meet resource objectives other than the production of livestock forage. Prescribed grazing can be used to manipulate vegetation composition and structure or increase, re-establish, or stabilize desired vegetation communities for the purpose of promoting, enhancing, and/or sustaining ecological integrity on the treatment site. These treatments would be available for use as tools on BLM-administered lands in future proposed projects to reduce fuel loads from invasive annual grass species in order to address increased wildfire risk and diminished ecological integrity.
The 45-Day Plus Planning Timeline Still Applies – Think 3 Months in Advance
If you are interested in pursuing a targeted or prescribed grazing project, please talk to your range specialist sooner rather than later, because a decision with a 45-day protest and appeal period is still required. It will take additional time if temporary range improvements are required to facilitate the grazing treatments. The decision may be written to allow the treatment for several years contingent on objectives, project design and/or written authorization from the BLM prior to each project treatment cycle.
It is important to set up these targeted or prescribed grazing projects well in advance; cheatgrass matures quickly when it does come up, and you need to be ready to respond to it. If you have a landscape that is dominated by cheatgrass that may benefit from a fuel break, or if you have a mixed system that could benefit from some change in use to focus cheatgrass removal and minimize perennial grass disturbance, please consider looking into a cheatgrass reduction option.
BLM Nevada has an application available for permittees/leasees that are interested in pursuing a targeted or prescribed grazing treatment. It can be found at this link: https://on.doi.gov/3VsxVlI.
In short, there are opportunities in Nevada to adjust grazing management to account for drought impacts or annual grass reduction needs. Any authorization adjustment or project will take time to create and authorize prior to implementation, so initiate the discussion with your Rangeland Management Specialist a minimum of 3 months ahead of time.
If this article was unclear or left you with questions, feel free to contact Kathryn Dyer at kdyer@blm.gov or (775) 861-6647.
By Kathyryn Dryer, Nevada Range Program Lead