ABSTRACT
The cultural-and-custom argument, which is another concept which originated in Catron County, New Mexico, is also used to support continued grazing on public lands. The new policy will also change the composition of the advisory boards to grazing districts. Grazing has been a major economic activity in New Mexico since European occupation. Environmentalists have been increasingly critical of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service for subsidizing grazing that they believe is destroying the American West. Moderate environmental groups believe that they raising the fee charged for the privilege to graze stock on public lands will force marginal users to give up their permits, thereby, reducing the number of animals and pressure on the land. The low grazing fees mean low appropriations for range management and a lack of money for personnel to enforce regulations. The situation is exacerbated by other subsidy programs and the spatial distribution of private, state, and federal lands.
