September 21, 2018
CapitalPress.com
5
Zinke orders transparency in settlement agreements
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Interior Department Sec-
retary Ryan Zinke has issued
an order a public lands advo-
cacy group says is intended
to bring more transparency
and accountability to consent
decrees and settlement agree-
ments entered into by the de-
partment.
The order is intended to
alleviate concerns that the
litigation process has been
used to undermine procedural
safeguards to ensure the pub-
lic has input in policymaking,
particularly when it comes to
the practice of “sue and set-
tle.”
Sue and settle has been
used for years by environ-
mental groups that don’t like
a policy decision by a federal
agency, Ethan Lane, execu-
tive director
of the Public
Lands Coun-
cil and federal
lands for the
National Cat-
tlemen’s Beef
Ethan Lane Association,
said.
They use it as a spring-
board to settle with the agen-
cy to get an outcome that’s
closer to the policy they want,
he said.
They’ve learned in the
process that “federal agencies
will settle rather than roll the
dice in court,” he said.
It’s a low-cost way to sue
and get the public policy they
want, he said, adding that
they’re holding federal policy
hostage and being compensat-
ed for legal fees through the
Equal Access to Justice Act,
he said.
One group, Advocates for
the West, obtains 31 percent
of its annual revenue from at-
torney fee awards, he said.
Advocates for the West
has not responded to Capital
Press’ requests for comment,
but its 2017 annual report ver-
ifies Lane’s assertion.
“This is a business model
for these people and a very ef-
fective one,” he said.
Loopholes exist to al-
low these groups a conse-
quence-free environment to
pester federal agencies with
habitual litigation, he said.
“Litigation is the most
consequential issue impact-
ing land management in the
West,” he said.
Zinke’s order is not a sil-
ver bullet to fix the abuse, but
it will shed some sunlight on
the process and give every-
body a chance to see what is
unfolding in these different
challenges, he said.
These groups claim to be
suing on behalf of the pub-
lic, and the public deserves to
know who is using that lever-
age, he said.
With more transparency,
people will be able to see
what’s going on — and they
might say “no, don’t settle
with these people,” stick with
the science-based decision, he
said.
“In general, if you can
make a decision to placate
somebody who’s suing you
with nobody knowing … it’s
easier to make the decision,”
he said.
The American Farm Bu-
reau Federation maintains
that activists have grown rich
by suing the government and
reaping billions of taxpayers’
dollars — and all in secret.
Permanent fire breaks, targeted
grazing used to help stop wildfires
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
U.S. Bureau of Land
Management fire-fuels spe-
cialists in southwest Idaho
late this year aim to seed
forage kochia in sagebrush
steppe where they’ve been
clearing roadside fire breaks.
Also soon, BLM offi-
cials expect to get progress
reports on the first year of
targeted grazing in a similar
landscape to the west, where
anecdotal results were favor-
able.
BLM-led crews have
been clearing roadside
fire-fuel breaks from Blacks
Creek Road east of Boise
east to Glenns Ferry, and in
some areas to the north and
south. Ideally, the firebreaks
will slow or help stop range
fires while improving access
for fire vehicles and crews.
“This fall, we will be
disking about 1,400 acres
along existing road systems
to prepare the seed bed for
forage kochia seeding later
this winter,” said Courtney
Wyatt, who leads implemen-
tation of the 10-year project,
Photo Submitted
A patch of forage kochia grows as part of the Bureau of Land Management’s Paradigm Project.
called Paradigm.
Kochia is known to slow
a wildfire’s progress — if working on 300 miles of fuel some that was degraded, she
“There is a learning curve
for this for everybody, but
the compact, perennial shrub breaks.
said.
with a deep taproot manages
“It is challenging to estab-
Wyatt said some land- all indications are that it is a
lish, has poor seed viability owners to the north have success,” Leonard said. Cat-
to establish itself.
tle operators rode horses and
“Success of forage kochia and does not establish where their own fuel-break plans.
seeds has a lot to do with pre- there is already seed compe-
To the west, BLM crews used other methods to keep
paring the seed bed,” Wyatt tition” such as where prolific, have been working on a the animals in targeted areas.
said.
non-native annual cheatgrass roughly 30-mile stretch
It appears the grazing cat-
The 100-foot fuel breaks and medusahead cover the from outside Murphy, Idaho, tle reduced total fuels along-
are in place on BLM land ground, he said. “We need to west to the Oregon border. side the break, he said. “They
that equipment could access, reduce all of that competition That fuel-break project is consume annuals, and if we
she said. Crews cleared sage- first.
about 90 percent completed, can manage the livestock
brush and other vegetation
Wyatt said established ko- said Steve Leonard, BLM up against that fuel break,
mechanically or by applying chia outcompetes cheatgrass Owyhee Field Office acting then we complement the fuel
and medusahead, including manager in Marsing, Idaho.
herbicide.
break by reducing fuel loads
If seeding goes well in interior spaces between
“As we move forward, we further.”
enough, “we would look at plants. Fires that run into are looking at doing some
Fuel breaks will require
an additional approximate- kochia often lose speed as chemical treatment to keep annual maintenance, Leon-
ly 100 feet of fuel break,” they go through a patchwork annual grasses out of the fuel ard said.
The fuel-break project in
Wyatt said. Such extensions of plant material and open break,” he said.
would be farther from roads space rather than a contigu-
On another front, several the Murphy area is part of
and contiguous to existing ous “fire mat” of grass, she cattle operators in the area a $67 million rehabilitation
said. kochia’s flame heights recently completed the first effort following the 2015
breaks.
Growing kochia can be are also lower.
year of a three-year project Soda Fire that burned 436
tough at the beginning, said
Clearing roadside breaks that aims to reduce fuel loads square miles of Sagebrush
Lance Okeson, fire-fuels took out sagebrush, though it alongside the break using tar- Steppe in Idaho and Oregon,
manager based in the BLM was a small percentage of the geted grazing. Final reports the Associated Press report-
ed in July.
Boise District. The agency is total population and included are forthcoming.
The action by the Interior De-
partment will open backroom
deals to public scrutiny and
is long overdue, according to
the organization.
“The Department of Interi-
or is shining light on a corner
of government most people
don’t even know exists,” El-
len Steel, AFBF general coun-
sel, said in a statement.
Basic transparency de-
mands that citizens know
what their government is do-
ing, she said.
“When activists sue, they
can tie up the government
with dozens of frivolous
claims but still recover attor-
neys’ fees if a judge upholds
even one, solitary claim.
Faced with a barrage of alle-
gations that sap agency time
and resources, whether they
have merit or not, the govern-
ment is too often motivated to
capitulate through secret set-
tlements,” she said.
Some agencies have even
been known to invite liti-
gation with the purpose of
entering a settlement to pro-
vide political cover for con-
troversial agency policies,
she said.
“And in settling, agencies
often agree to pay legal fees,
which further fuels the sue-
and-settle machine. This ac-
tion is a solid first step to fix-
ing the problem. Every other
federal agency should follow
suit,” she said.
Every decision unfolding
on public lands in the West
affects cattle and sheep pro-
ducers, and all are subject to
litigation, Lane said.
“Anti-multiple-use groups
really target grazing. We cov-
er a large area, and we’re easy
to regulate,” he said.
Ag cautiously optimistic
about Trump trade agenda
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
The wheels are beginning
to turn on trade moves that will
benefit U.S. farmers, but some
major concerns remain, the
head of an agricultural trade
organization says.
The Senate Agriculture
Committee
held a hearing
Sept. 13 fo-
cused on the
Trump admin-
istration’s trade
agenda.
Brian Kue-
hl, executive Brian Kuehl
director
of
Farmers For
Free Trade, said he is cautious-
ly optimistic.
“We’re still very worried
about the impact farmers are
feeling and are going to con-
tinue to feel,” Kuehl told the
Capital Press. “A lot of farm-
ers are being impacted today,
so there’s not a lot of time.
People are trying to sell their
grain, fruit and produce, and
prices are down because of this
trade war.”
The trade conflicts are
causing long-term damage
to U.S. agricultural markets,
Kuehl said.
“The longer we’re in a trade
war with China, the more op-
portunity Brazil and Australia
have to step into that vacuum,”
he said. “Even after we get the
trade war resolved, it could be
a decade before the U.S. gets
back to where it was in terms
of agricultural trade.”
Kuehl said he was con-
cerned by comments made by
U.S. chief agricultural nego-
tiator Gregg Doud during the
hearing that the U.S. Trade
Representative’s team is not
responsible for lifting steel
and aluminum tariffs on Mex-
ico, calling it a Department of
Commerce issue.
“That’s really alarming to
us, because all of these gov-
ernmental entities should be
marching in the same direc-
tion,” Kuehl said. “If we don’t
lift the steel and aluminum
tariffs on Mexico, they’re not
going to lift the tariffs they put
on U.S. ag products.”
Several months ago, the
U.S. announced a similar trade
deal with the European Union,
but did not lift steel and alumi-
num tariffs, and the EU did not
lift tariffs on agricultural prod-
ucts, he said.
“On the one hand, it’s good
that we’re talking, that’s en-
couraging,” he said. “But we’d
like to see these tariffs rolled
back while we talk. There’s no
point in having the tariffs on
and inflicting pain. Everyone
knows we can put the tariffs
on if we want to; why don’t we
lift the tariffs, have the conver-
sation and try to reach a deal?”
President Donald Trump
should not pull the U.S. out
of the North American Free
Trade Agreement until a new
deal is solidified with Mexico
and Canada and receives con-
gressional approval, Kuehl
said.
“Let’s make sure we have
the votes for the new deal be-
fore we scrap the old deal,” he
said.
Another priority is no fur-
ther tariffs on China, which
would respond further with
more tariffs of its own, Kuehl
said.
“What we want to see is
both parties de-escalating,
throwing back tariffs and sit-
ting down for serious talks,”
he said.
U.S. Wheat Associates and
National Association of Wheat
Growers said they appreciat-
ed that the administration and
committee leaders recognize
the challenges farmers face.
“It looks like progress to
us,” said Steve Mercer, vice
president of communications
at U.S. Wheat Associates.
“There’s rhetoric, there’s real-
ity and I guess we’ll just have
to wait and see. We’re pleased
with the acknowledgment
that there is damage to wheat
growers from these policies
and they are taking steps to ad-
dress that.”
Farmers are already sowing
wheat, said Jimmie Musick,
president of National Associa-
tion of Wheat Growers and a
Sentinel, Okla., farmer.
They’d like to see the trade
issues resolved to know how
much wheat they need to plant
and how the market will look,
he said.
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