On the recordJuly 27, 2011
Referring my remarks to the Chairman, I've got to get the gentleman from Virginia on a horse out with some cattle. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. ``Trailing'' is the process of moving a livestock herd from one grazing area to another. It generally doesn't take weeks. It certainly doesn't take weeks in the same location. You're moving from one location to another. Trailing has no significant impact on the environment, so while in the past it has been generally considered part of the process of grazing on public lands, the BLM has rarely conducted environmental assessments on or issued permits for trailing itself, focusing instead on the impacts of grazing. Recently--and this is the problem and this is why this amendment is before us--environmental activists that want to get cattle off of public lands, and they have a right to try to do this--I disagree with them--have focused their attention on trailing as a way to shut down grazing on public lands. Congress, not the courts, has the authority to determine public land policies, and today responsible grazing is an important and legitimate use of public lands. Unfortunately, because activists have tied local BLM offices up in knots with litigation, judges are now determining how public lands can be used in the West. This provision--and this is the important part--attempts to get ahead of this issue by exempting trailing from NEPA requirements for 2011 through 2014.…
