2017 Idaho Law Review Symposium

Livestock Grazing on Public Lands: Law, Policy & Rebellion

Sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management

March 31, 2017

Livestock grazing on western public lands is a complicated, and often hotly contested subject that deeply influences the economies of rural western places. The Bureau of Land Management currently administers 8,000 permits and leases for livestock grazing, mostly cattle and sheep, on 21,000 allotments that cover nearly two-thirds of the country’s federal public lands. How grazing is managed on such federal public lands, as well as state-owned and tribal lands, plays a singular role in the future of the rural West. Conflicts over grazing have also proven an on-going source of anti-government sentiment, from the Seventies’ Sagebrush Rebellions to recent occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and the transfer of public lands movement. The 2017 symposium investigated both the past and future of grazing, as well as its place in the larger public lands debates that currently engage Western states.

Symposium Articles

• John Foltz, Rock Creek Ranch – A Place for Research, Education and Outreach at the Intersection of Society’s Competing Demands and Desires, 53 IDAHO L. REV. 335 (2017).
• Melinda Harm Benson, Grazing 2.0: The Valles Caldera National Preserve, 53 IDAHO L. REV. 347 (2017).
• Cally Younger and Sam Eaton, Lessons Learned from the Greater Sage-Grouse Land Use Planning Effort, 53 IDAHO L. REV. 373 (2017).
• John Copeland Nagle, The Original Role Of The States in the Endangered Species Act 53 IDAHO L. REV. 385 (2017).
• Mara C. Hurwitt, Freedom Versus Forage: Balancing Wild Horses and Livestock Grazing on the Public Lands, 53 IDAHO L. REV. 425 (2017).
• Peter A. Appel and Christopher Barns, Grazing in the National Wilderness Preservation System, 53 IDAHO L. REV. 465 (2017).
• Frank Larrocea-Phillips, Idaho Wool Growers Association v. Vilsack: A Public Lands Decision that Could be Tiered to Work for Other Federal Agencies, 53 IDAHO L. REV. 479 (2017).

Agenda

8 a.m.:  Continental breakfast and registration

8:20 a.m.:  Introductions and welcome

8:40 a.m.:  A Brief Introduction to Grazing Law

• Robert Firpo, Attorney-Advisor, Boise Field Office, U.S. Department of the Interior

9 – 10:30 p.m.:  Solicitors’ Panel:  The Past and Future of Livestock Grazing on Public Lands

Moderator: Stephen R. Miller, Associate Professor of Law, University of Idaho College of Law

• John Leshy, Emeritus Harry D. Sunderland Distinguished Professor of Real Property Law, U.C. Hastings College of the Law; formerly Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior during Clinton administration
• William Myers III, Partner, Holland & Hart; formerly Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior during George W. Bush administration
• Bret Birdsong, Professor of Law, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law; formerly Deputy Solicitor, U.S. Department of Interior during Obama administration
• [Invited: Trump administration Solicitor’s Office representative]

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.:  Species Conservation and Livestock Grazing

Moderator: Anne Corcoran Briggs, Attorney-Advisor, Boise Field Office, U.S. Department of the Interior

• Cally Younger, Legal Counsel, Idaho Office of Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter
• Mara Hurwitt, Wild Horses and Livestock Grazing
• Anthony L. Francois, Pacific Legal Foundation
• Kristin Ruether, Western Watersheds Project

12:15 – 1 p.m.:  Lunch Break

1 – 2 p.m.:  Debate:  The Transfer of Public Lands Movement

Moderator: Barbara Cosens, Professor of Law & Associate Dean of Faculty, University of Idaho College of Law

• John Leshy, Emeritus Harry D. Sunderland Distinguished Professor of Real Property Law, U.C. Hastings College of the Law; formerly Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior
• Richard Seamon, Professor of Law, University of Idaho College of Law, formerly Assistant to the Solicitor General of United States, U.S. Department of Justice; co-author of the legal analysis prepared for the Utah Commission for the Stewardship of Public Lands

2:15 – 3:45 p.m.:  What is the Role of Government?:  Alternative Regulatory Structures for Livestock Grazing

Moderator:  Jerry Long, Professor of Law, University of Idaho College of Law

• John Nagle, John N. Matthews Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School
• Peter Appel, Alex W. Smith Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law
• Rocky Barker, “Letters from the West” columnist, Idaho Statesman
• W. Alan Schroeder, Schroeder & Lezamiz Law Offices, LLP
• Michael Lopez, Staff Attorney, Office of Legal Counsel, Nez Perce Tribe

4 – 5:30 p.m.:  Flexibility and Oversight:  Alternative Livestock Grazing Management Options

Moderator:  Anastasia Telesetsky, Professor of Law, University of Idaho College of Law

• Tim Murphy, State Director, Idaho, U.S. Bureau of Land Management
• John Foltz, Professor, Special Assistant to the University of Idaho President for Agricultural Initiatives, University of Idaho
• Melinda Harm Benson, Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of New Mexico
• Karen Launchbaugh, Professor, Director of the University of Idaho Rangeland Center, University of Idaho