The thing of concern seems to be what effect this decision is going to 

 have on our ongoing range management program. 



The highest range management program priorities Bureauwide will be 

 directed toward meeting the court ordered commitment and supervision of 

 the grazing program with necessary corrective actions. The Bioreau is pro- 

 hibited by the court ordered agreement from implementing any new allotment 

 management plans until an EIS has been prepared. However, our policy does 

 permit range improvement work to continue on implemented AMP's meeting 

 Bureau quality standards. Our primary effort will be on maintenance of 

 existing improvements. In certain cases range improvement may be construc- 

 ted outside of implemented AMP's which are required to facilitate custodial 

 level of management and provide public safety on the National Resource Lands. 

 Examples are: (l) allotment boundary fences or other protective fences, (2) 

 water developments to supplement or replace existing water supplies, pro- 

 viding the new water resoiirce does not change existing use patterns. Again, 

 I want to stress the major effort will be directed towards completing the 

 EIS's, If man power and funds are diverted from this effort for the deve- 

 lopment and necessary environmental assessment of range improvements it will 

 dilute our efforts to meet the court ordered commitment. 



Even though the National Resource Lands in Montana comprise only a small 

 percentage of the State, they are very important to the local economy. For 

 seasonal livestock grazing, BLM administered lands furnish seasonal forage 

 for approximately 28^ of the cattle and 34?^ of the sheep in Montana. 



Livestock products derived from NRL's are a basic part of Montana's total 

 economy and are highly significant at the local level. 



John Morse, Jr. 



Good afternoon, my name is John Morse, Jr., and I'm not running for any- 

 thing. I am going to talk to you about how we can in the long run bring a- 

 bout significant improvement on the range lands in Montana. The key to im- 

 proving the Montana rangelands lies in the hands of the rancher for he holds 

 the tool. Range improvement offers the rancher the greatest promise of in- 

 creased productivity. 



We should in fact correctly identify the primary resource with which 



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