The National Wildlife Federation says J.R. Simplot - who is worth $500 million and has grazing permits on nearly 1 million acres in Utah, Idaho and Nevada - is an example of wealthy ranchers getting wealthier at taxpayer expense.
It released a study Monday saying the 20 largest holders of U.S. Bureau of Land Management grazing permits - including Simplot - control a whopping 14 percent of all acreage and receive what it says are unfair subsidies that are often billed as needed to preserve small, family ranchers."They can well afford to pay their fair share," said William W. Howard, executive vice president of the environmental group.
It was the latest round in a years-long battle about whether to increase grazing fees on public lands. It comes as a House-Senate conference is expected to decide this week whether to possibly triple fees (as the House proposed), or not raise them at all (as powerful Westerners in the Senate proposed).
Currently, ranchers using public lands pay $1.92 per month to graze one cow and calf (called an animal-unit month). Studies say ranchers on private lands pay an average $9.25 instead - almost fives times as much.
Environmental groups charge that amounts to an unfair subsidy, and say it allows overgrazing that may ruin Western ranges.
Ranchers, however, say the $1.92 public grazing fee does not include developing water, fences, roads and other services they must provide themselves on public areas, which are included in the price of private range.
They charge that is what environmental groups want: cattle-free range and forest lands.
Howard said the new study shows the 20 largest permittees on BLM land - or only one-tenth of 1 percent of all permittees - have 14 percent of all available acreage, and 9.3 percent of all available forage.
Several companies and individuals with Utah ties made the top 20 public lands rancher list that the federation prepared. They include:
- Simplot of Grand View, Idaho, who is one of the 400 wealthiest Americans. He is known most as one of the nation's top producers of potatoes. But he also has the sixth largest amount of animal unit months under BLM grazing permits. He has permits on 964,696 acres in Utah, Idaho and Nevada.
- Ellison Ranching Co. of Tuscarora, Nev., is the third largest permittee, with nearly 2.6 million acres in Nevada. The president of the company is Peter Ellison of Salt Lake City, the federation said.
- Western States Minerals, a Utah company with headquarters in Denver, was listed at the 15th largest grazing permit holder, with 300,753 acres in Nevada.
- Broadbent Brothers Sheep Co. of Salt Lake City was 19th on the list, and had 701,945 acres under grazing permits in Wyoming. It has additional allotments on Forest Service land in Utah that were not considered in the group's list.