From the desk of Executive Director Meghan Brown:

May 2011

Association Members Meet with State and Federal Officials

The last part of March and the beginning of April have proven to be busy as ever. President Cerri and President Elect J.J. Goicoechea traveled to Carson City to testify on several bills and network with legislators regarding upcoming bills and issues that affect the livestock industry. There are dozens upon dozens of bills that could affect you and your operation. Neena Laxalt has been working every day for us on issues from trucking, brand inspection, water, taxes, animal health, and many others. If you are interested in learning more about what are some of the legislative priorities for the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association please contact the office at 1-775-738-9214.

While officers were working on state issues, Past President Steve Boies and his wife Robin, Past President John Falen, and staff Meghan Brown traveled to Washington DC to meet with the Nevada delegation and leadership in Federal Land Management Agencies.

The first groups of meetings were with the BLM.  We met with: Carla Bird Acting Wild Horse and Burro Lead; Ed Roberson, Assistant Director Renewable Resources and Planning; Carl Rountree, Director Office of National Landscape Conservation System and Community Programs; Rob Roudabush, Division Chief Rangeland Resources; and BLM Director Bob Abbey. Over the course of several meetings NCA was able to address several important issues, Wild Lands, wild horses, cooperative monitoring, and land use planning.

Although all of our concerns were not met with agreement from the BLM, there was good back and forth discussion on these important issues. Issues relating to the Wild Lands designation and the potential for increased litigation and abuse of the EAJA was addressed with leadership of the BLM and they were unable to change the group in their feeling that this abuse is almost certain. Further discussion regarding the implementation of a Wild Lands designation and its effects on grazing, motorized use, and water developments were also discussed. However, the land management decisions will be made at the local office so no guarantees were made about the future of grazing. It was discussed however that this new designation should have no effect on permit renewals, besides the increased workload on the local offices.

Discussion related to the Proposed Strategy for Wild Horses was also a topic of discussion. The BLM had already received over 10,000 letters regarding the proposal and now with the comment period closed the BLM is synthesizing the information and will be producing their final rule soon. We made it clear to the BLM and to our delegation in Washington that the over population of wild horses is causing resource damage and conflicts with wildlife and other uses of the public lands. We clearly stated our opposition to the plan and the continued increase in AML across the West.  Though the discussion of more fertility control studies, and changes in sex ratios on the range was included in the proposed strategy, the overall plan was not acceptable to the association.

After the meetings with the agency people, members of NCA met with Senator Ensign, Senator Reid, Congressman Heller, and Congresswoman Berkley.  The meetings with the members covered similar issues with the public land agencies, along with estate tax reform or repeal, farm bill programs and reforms, and EAJA reform.  We emphasized the importance of these issues to our producers and to the future of their operations.

We first met with Senator Ensign and his staff. The first issue that we addressed was the wild horse issue and working to find better solutions for fertility control. The current method is not working and is expensive. We spoke about more use of sex ratios within HMA’s as well as more permanent solutions to fertility control. The Senator seems open to the discussion and felt that solutions to the conflict were needed. We then moved on to the discussion of EAJA reform and a need for accountability.  The Senator committed to continuing to work on this issue and was a priority for he and his staff.

Our next meeting was with Senator Reid focused on the Proposed Wild Horses Strategy and the upcoming Farm Bill.  The need for continued commitment to work with the multiple users of the public lands is important to finding solutions and working for accountability of the wild horse program. We stressed to the Senator that what is currently occurring in Nevada is not good for the resource or the horse.  We also explained that if the problem was to continue to increase the overall impact would be negative even for the horse. We wrapped up discussion regarding the upcoming farm bill.  We met with staff of the Senator and explained the priorities for Nevada regarding the farm bill and where we could use more flexibility in some of the programs.

Congressman Heller met with members of NCA to discuss the impacts that the federal land agencies are making on rural communities. The board based decisions that are coming down from agencies will be making impacts on the multiple users of the public land system and the livestock operators in our state. The Congressman noted that he was having a meeting with Director Abbey later in the week to discuss these very issues and try and get a clear understanding of the strategy the agency was taking.

Our last meeting was with Congresswoman Berkley.  The Congresswoman has been working hard on estate tax reform and repeal. Last congress the Congresswoman worked for broader exemptions for agriculture relating to estate tax and committee to working on broader estate tax reform this congress as well. NCA members also spoke to the Congresswoman about the importance of managing public land for multiple uses and not elevating one species or use above another.

Overall the trip was informative and allowed NCA members to interact with leadership within the federal land agencies and to alert our members in Congress to the issues that are affecting our operations. With all of the issues facing the industry on the home front and in Washington, it is important that membership communicate with leadership of the association on issues that are important to them.

 

John Falen, Congressman Dean Heller, and Steve and Robin Boies meet in Washington D.C.