Thread: Mexican/Americans sue to graze cattle in New Mexico, like Bundy in Nevada

Our view: Court decision on grazing could save a way of life

Posted: Saturday, June 6, 2015 7:00 pm | Updated: 9:16 pm, Sat Jun 6, 2015.
The New Mexican | 5 comments

A lawsuit currently in federal court could have important consequences for the future of grazing by small ranchers in Northern New Mexico — if a judge allows it to go forward, that is.

Hispanic ranchers are suing the U.S. Forest Service over a decision that limits grazing on historic land grant areas in Northern New Mexico, claiming that they are being discriminated against. The land, after all, has been grazed by their families for centuries. It’s a way of life.

Of course, the Forest Service has a charge to preserve the land, and grazing can have negative side effects on forests and rivers. But as the ranchers’ lawyer, Simeon Herskovits, argues, the Forest Service also must consider the cultural connections that Hispanos of the north have forged with the land.

Yet in 2010, a decision was made to reduce grazing by 18 percent on the Jarita Mesa and Alamosa grazing allotments in Rio Arriba County, eventually prompting the lawsuit. Both are part of an area recognized by the federal government for special treatment aimed at benefiting land grant heirs.

That special treatment, we believe, needs to be part of the decision-making process when the Forest Service is managing land. (It’s not unheard of, after all, to consider the rights of longtime land users of federal land when managing the property. Backers of the recently established Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, which includes some 242,500 acres of public land, were careful to make sure that traditional activities — hunting and grazing, for example — could continue after the land was protected.)

Of course, as can happen with lawsuits, U.S. District Judge James Browning might never consider the issues at the heart of this case. The Forest Service is taking a somewhat procedural approach in defending against the lawsuit, with attorney Andrew Smith arguing that some of the ranchers lack standing to sue; he is claiming they didn’t hold grazing permits or didn’t file proper administrative appeals when the decision to limit grazing was first issued.

It would be a shame if such an important issue became sidelined over procedure.

Managers of land grants now in federal control should take in consideration their historic uses. That is juggling act, to be sure, especially with so many environmentalists and others pushing the Forest Service to stop grazing altogether. For some, the cultural connections of a people to the land do not matter.

We have to agree with David Sanchez of the Northern New Mexico Stockmen’s Association, who told Associated Press reporter Susan Montoya Bryan that in rural areas, such traditional occupations as ranching and woodcutting might be the only source of income for some families. “What’s left for these people? If the government wants them all on food stamps, then take away their grazing permits.”

Just as the land of Northern New Mexico is a resource, so is the culture of independent men and women making a living off that land. This lawsuit could help establish the rights of norteños to work the land of their ancestors. It should go forward, so that these rights can be enforced — not because of the decision of a Forest Service bureaucrat, but because they have been established in a court of law.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/opi...b1e1ff2c6.html

http://www.alipac.us/f19/nevada-ranc...owdown-318575/