The Bureau of Land Management is taking exception to Fremont County ranchers' assertions that they were not given enough time to move cattle off leased grazing allotments. Ranchers met with county commisioners Tuesday afternoon to enlist the boards help in appealing to the BLM for a two-week extension. According to Assistant Field Manager Mike Stewart of Lander's BLM office, 20 permittees grazing cattle on the Green Mountain Common Allotment have known since last fall they needed to be prepared for a much shorter grazing period on BLM lands. Stewart explained Thursday that, after a July 25-26 tour of the pastur pastures that make up the 517,000-acre Green Mountain Common Allotment permittees were told the Lander BLM office "would have a decision out to them the following week, and we did. We mailed it out to them on Aug. 4. "We gave them as much time as we possibly could" to remove their stock from the "degraded riparian areas," asking that all cattle be off the Arapaho use area of the Green Mountain Common Allotment by Aug. 22.

In the opinion of the BLM, they just had to get (their cattle) off that portion of the allotment," Stewart said. Unauthorized use through the
summer had resulted in riparian stubble heights below the four-inch standard. The permittees were well aware of the standard before the
grazing season started. They were also specified in a decision we issued Aug. 31, 1999. "He added, "Riparian areas in the Green Mountain Common Allotment were assessed two years ago and determined to not meet the Wyoming standards for range health. BLM is required to take appropriate actions to meet those standards. He said BLM has "tried to prepare people, share our concerns as early as we could. We really have tried to keep people in the loop on what we're thinking and planning for ... so they can make the decisions early enough in their operations" to allow for removing cattle from the range with the least amount of impacts to their operations.

Bare Ring Butte and East Alkali Creek are the northern pastures in the worst shape. Stewart admitted that permittees had indeed offered to
fence off these two pastures "(but) while it was a good gesture, it wouldn't fix the problem." Given the weather and poor, dry soil
conditions in the common allotment between Muddy Gap and South Pass, it's too little, too late. "We did an evaluation two years ago," Stewart said. "What we saw then tells us that by the next grazing season (when conditions are this dry), we have to take appropriate action to get it headed in the right direction." Stewart explained that BLM has been working on a management plan for the Green Mountain allotment for five years. Range conditions have been photographed, inspected and discussed since 1996. A steady deterioration of several riparian areas has been noted during the past few dry years.

According to Ray Corning, a zoologist/limnologist who has been interested in the area for some time, the area is losing its "giant
sponge comprised of humus and humic materials (including decomposing materials that must be) constantly renewed by old growth of the surface plants, and have a high concentration of water during spring and summer months." In too many riparian areas around the streams running through the Green Mountain allotment, Corning said the humus has been nearly or completely destroyed by cattle that prefer the cooler stream beds to the higher pastures. This layer, he said, can only be replaced by decomposing plants - grasses with more than the four inch stubble currently being required by BLM. "Six- to 12-inch stubble is best," he explained, but it really takes about five years for dead vegetation to decompose well and become part of the layer of humus that is critical to the health of high desert wetlands.

Corning agreed with the ranchers who spoke to the county commissioners last Tuesday, insisting that, without fences, it is impossible to keep "rogue cattle" out of riparian areas. Stewart said building fences has been discussed at several public meetings over the years, but "in our management plan, part of the goal is to (manage the Green Mountain allotment) with a minimum of fences. Ranchers and sportsmen- all the groups involved- didn't want to see anymore fences than we had to have."To deal with the problem, Stewart said, BLM "drilled wells to draw the cattle to the uplands to alleviate stress on riparian areas." In addition, he noted, BLM has "invested a lot of money and created
partnerships with National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Wyoming Game and Fish, Nature Conservancy and Wyoming Department of Environ-mental Quality." All have contributed funds to defray the cost of wells and pipelines in the Green Mountain allotment, Stewart said. A good percentage of the money has gone "to defray some of the ranchers' expenses with herding Stewart said. "it doesn't cover all of it but it does help to cover some of the cost." He added that, "It's cost (BLM and it's partners) close to a quarter of a million dollars to make this thing work so far."

BLM received the letter Tuesday afternoon from the county comissioners requesting GMCA permittees be given until Aug. 28 to remove their livestock from the Arapahoe Use Area of the allotment. Commissioners also asked the field office to give permittees at least two weeks from the date of BLM's request letter so the producers would have plenty of time to arrange alternative pasture for their livestock. BLM Field Manager Jack Kelly responded to the letter the next day. Although he couldn't agree to their request for an extension, he did state that his office would work with individual requests from the permittees for extensions based on operational problems they might encounter, such as needing more time for brand inspections, before moving their herds.