Republicans move to sell off 3.3m acres of national land, sparking rallies

Re:Republicans move to sell off 3.3m acres of national land,... by waterphone on Wednesday February 01, 2017 @10:21AM (#13541348)

You have it completely backwards, I'm afraid. Private land in the southwest tends to be overgrazed and abused, while BLM land is very well managed, with enforcement of herd rotation through pastures. Many of the ranchers strongly resist the practices they are required to do to prevent overgrazing, until they see how much healthier it makes the landscape and their cattle.

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Re:Republicans move to sell off 3.3m acres of national land,... by lend000 on Wednesday February 01, 2017 @01:06PM (#13543214)

> You have it completely backwards, I'm afraid. Private land in the southwest tends to be overgrazed and abused, while BLM land is very well managed, with enforcement of herd rotation through pastures.

It's a hotly contested subject, but evidence (and logic) shows the balance favors private land, where owners actually have an incentive to maintain it -- crazy concept, right? Here's a broad survey that evaluates the frequency and magnitude of overgrazing on federal land:

http://people.oregonstate.edu/~muirp/wpubland.htm

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