Office of the Secretary

For Immediate Release: May 15, 2000

Contact: John Wright 202-208-6416

Supreme Court Upholds Secretary Babbitt's Grazing Reforms

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today expressed satisfaction that the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled his rangeland reform program was well within the framework of existing law.

"We set out at the beginning of this Administration to put in place a reform package that would modernize grazing regulations which hadn't been significantly changed since enactment of the Taylor Grazing Act in 1934, and help restore the health of western rangelands," said Babbitt. "Today's decision is welcome news. We will continue our efforts working with ranchers and other friends of the public lands to implement those reforms."

Most of the Department's reforms had already been approved by lower courts, but ranchers appealed three issues to the Supreme Court. The most important issue before the Court was whether ranchers maintain a "preference" under federal law to graze a specific amount of livestock (described in grazing parlance as "animal unit months," or "AUMs"). The Court said the Secretary's new rules properly recognized that the law did not safeguard any preference for a specific amount of grazing AUMs, because the Secretary long had the authority to cancel, modify, or limit grazing permits to protect other values of the public lands.

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