Pete Domenici: “Mr. President, first of all, there are very different ways in which the public domain is used from the standpoint of…”

“Mr. President, first of all, there are very different ways in which the public domain is used from the standpoint of grazing permits. It happens in a State like mine we have 5,000 permittees. The overwhelming number are small ranchers. And they use, for the most part, the public domain for 12 months out of the year. So the amendment that Senator Bumpers is talking about uses this big number, 5,000 animal unit months, which is really about 400 head of cattle if you graze on the public domain for 12 months out of the year. So it sounds like a monster, but in States like mine it is a relatively modest cattle ranching operation. Second, to say to those who ranch on the Federal land, 'You may be asked to pay the same as the State fee for this land,' not only invites a fee schedule that is different from State to State, but the State leases its land on completely different rules than the Federal Government.”