Page 4 Pinedale Roundup March 23, 2018
Grizzly is top Upper Green grazing issue
By Joy Ufford
jufford@pinedaleroundup.com
JACKSON – With Sublette County
cattlemen sitting on one side of the large
table, and Jackson environmentalists on the
other, two days of meetings about objec-
tions to the Forest Service’s Upper Green
River’s rangeland grazing draft decision
proceeded slowly but surely.
The first meeting among the eight ob-
jecting parties on March 9 ended with
Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor
Tricia O’Connor and facilitator John Ku-
zlowski emphasizing the need for a second
meeting on March 14. The objections con-
cern the draft record of decision written by
Pinedale District Ranger Rob Hoelscher,
with O’Connnor agreeing to listen to some
– but not all – objections.
For example, she stated from the start
she would not entertain eliminating graz-
ing there.
Objectors’ issues range from grizzly
bear conflicts with livestock and humans
to the Kendall Warm Springs dace, fence
placements to permitted animal-units per
month (AUM) grazing numbers, stream
banks to rotational grazing, and forage
stubble heights to more supportive lan-
guage from the Forest Service regarding
its intents.
Between the first and second meetings,
O’Connor and her team drew up a list of
potential remedies. Some could clarify the
draft ROD’s language; others call for the
Forest Service to make more data acces-
sible to the public.
The issue of grizzly conflicts led to en-
vironmental spokespeople to ask time and
again for reduced or eliminated “stocking
rates” for the Upper Green.
BTNF natural resources manager Dave
Booth and range specialist Gary Hayward
said that the AUMs for each summer are
determined “on the ground” in March by
the amount of forage and other aspects.
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Both stated Upper Green permittees have
greatly improved forage stubble heights
and leave pastures in good shape.
Western Watersheds Project director
Jonathan Ratner questioned them, saying
his calculations show stocking at one AUM
per acre would need about 2,000 pounds of
forage “and there’s nothing in the Upper
Green that can produce that.”
“When you have cattle on the range and
up with stubble heights and residual for-
age, that logic is hard for me to grasp,”
Hoelscher told Ratner. “You say there are
too many AUMs and we have grass left. At
the end of the year, we didn’t end up with
dirt. There was forage.”
O’Connor said she is “comfortable”
with the proposed decision to reduce cattle
numbers permitted to actual current use
rather than the maximum now allowed.
Albert Sommers, rancher and president
of the Upper Green Cattlemen’s Associa-
tion, said producers keep trying to reduce
grizzly-livestock conflicts by changing
cattle movements, using more range riders
and working closely with the BTNF and
Wyoming Game and Fish.
Andrea Santarsiere of the Center for Bi-
ological Diversity said the idea of allowing
any AUMs above the current use was “ex-
tremely surprising and concerning.”
Hayward said flexibility in individual
operating plans brings fluctuations in
stocking rates from year to year. “I can as-
sure you, if there are 7,600 head of cattle
on the Upper Green – if they all went out
and grazed – they’d come home when the
forage runs out.”
Environmental objectors also asked for
more substantial reporting about how per-
mittees try to avoid grizzly conflicts. They
also endorsed mandatory rotational graz-
ing.
Sommers – and earlier, Sublette ranch-
ers Eddie Wardell and David Noble – asked
for more flexibility in the draft ROD, ex-
plained that changing pastures but not in a
ding
p ro v i
ir e le ss,
o
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prescribed rotation has prevented conflicts.
Santarsiere asked about carcass removal
and other practices – “If permittees on the
ground now are doing a lot of that already,
is there pushback against making them
mandatory measures?”
“Does making it mandatory make for
less conflict,” asked Wyoming Department
of Agriculture spokesman Justin Williams.
Sommers said, “There is not one thing
that’s going to solve the problems.”
At one point, Ratner and Bonnie Rice of
the Sierra Club asked why they should trust
Upper Green permittees to follow through
with attempts to limit grizzly-livestock
conflicts if they were unwilling to commit
to consider carrying bear spray mandatory.
“I can’t believe we’re having this dis-
cussion,” said Rice. “It’s a no-brainer to
prevent human-bear conflicts. The public
needs assurance they are trying to reduce
conflicts on public lands that are being
grazed.”
Ratner added, “If permittees and the ag
industry don’t want to agree to something
as basic as carrying bear spray, it gives
me a feeling there’s not much good faith
in dealing with this issue. It’s absurd.”
Sublette County Conservation District
manager Mike Henn said making bear
spray mandatory would call for a forest-
planning level.
“That would mean all permitted users
would need to carry bear spray,” Henn
said. “(Bear spray) is not required.
“A bear doesn’t care if you’re a graz-
ing permittee carrying bear spray or a
person taking photographs of the bear.
Then you should require all permit users
to carry it.”
Wyoming Game and Fish large carni-
vore specialist Zach Turnbull related that
in the years he has worked with permit-
tees to reduce grizzly conflicts, none ever
hurt or shot a bear. It’s a band-aid for
something that’s not broken.”
Carcass removal does not necessar-
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240 East Pine St.
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ily reduce grizzly conflicts, he added.
“Those conflicts haven’t gone away; they
just moved to another allotment.”
Ratner said, “The problem is livestock
grazing in grizzly habitat.”
“Point taken,” O’Connor said. “We
will also have conflicts with people and
vehicles and will try to reduce them
where we can. I know no one solution.”
Albert Sommers said cattlemen will
continue trying new techniques. “I don’t
particularly want to see dead bears and I
don’t want to see dead cows.”
“We do want flexibility because we
don’t have the answers,” O’Connor said,
adding BTNF manages for grizzlies on
much a larger scale than just the Upper
Green.
Rice suggested “making it very clear”
that the BTNF has an interest in reduc-
ing grizzly conflicts and O’Connor said
she welcomed wording that would reflect
that.
“I’m not saying one thing is going to
work but some things have to be tried in
some places, sometimes,” Rice added
Santarsiere asked how range riders are
used. “Does it correlate to conflicts? Are
these working and how are they being
used on the ground right now.”
“The riders have the GPS coordinates
for depredation and they can see the cor-
relation to when and where they should
be,” Henn explained.
She asked about night riding, which
Henn said is dangerous.
BTNF’s proposed remedy is to change
the draft ROD wording to give “oppor-
tunity to move pastures to avoid conflict
with large carnivores.”
O’Connor will meet again with the
BTNF team and email an “offer as a reso-
lution and remedy” to objectors and see if
objections are resolved before formaliz-
ing it. She would then issue an objections
response letter before Hoelscher writes a
final decision. n
School safety
topic for April 4
conversation
Staff report
PINEDALE –  Sublette County School
District No. 1 will host a community conver-
sation about school safety and crisis manage-
ment at 7 p.m. April 4 in the school district’s
boardroom, located in the BOCES building,
665 N. Tyler.
Superintendent Jay Harnack will present in-
formation on the components of the district’s
crises management plan. The goal of the con-
versation is to familiarize stakeholders with
the plan and the ways the district communi-
cates during crisis management events.
Sublette County Sheriff K.C. Lehr will also
be at the meeting to discuss how the Sublette
County Sheriff’s Office works in cooperation
with the school district during crisis manage-
ment events.
This is an opportunity for the community
to gain a better understanding of the district’s
crisis management plan and ask questions. n