Management which was created as a result of that grant. 



During the past several years we have appropriated state fiinds for nox- 

 ious weed control as well as for highly effective saline seep programs. 



Nonetheless, these actions taken together cannot offset the practices 

 at the federal level which have historically threatened the agricultural 

 econotnies of the western states. 



In the week of the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 which increased set- 

 tlement claims to 320 acres in Montana, a flood of homesteaders brought the 

 cattle industry nearly to its knees. 



Continued federal failure to oppose and enforce strict beef import quo- 

 tas has contributed to the disastrously low price levels facing the beef 

 industry in recent years. The continued inability of the sheepmen of the 

 state to be permitted use of effective predator control devices has driven 

 many Montana sheepmen out of business. 



In 1975> the Bureau of Land Management acknowledged that only 16 percent 

 of the 150 million acres of BLM managed grazing land was in good to excel- 

 lent condition; 84 percent or 126 million acres was in fair, poor, and bad 

 condition. Late in 1974> a- federal court in Washington, B.C., ordered the 

 BLM to conduct detailed environmental analyses of its management policies, 

 saying that multiple uses had been subordinated, historical and archeological 

 values had been destroyed, and the land resource itself had been abused 

 through over-grazing. 



That legal ruling made headlines, partly because of the amount of land 

 involved and partly because that land is publicly owned. 



With the reservoir of funds, manpower, and scientific and technical ex- 

 pertise available, the stewardship of federal public lands should have been 

 exemplary. With so many ranchers dependent on supplemental lands for eco- 

 nomic survival, the rangeland resource should have been husbanded responsibly. 



Two months ago, I joined with the Governors of Colorado, New Mexico, 

 Utah and Wyoming in calling for a clear legislative mandate regarding the 

 administration of federal lands under the jurisdiction of the BLM. It was 

 clear to us that the present management system by administrative rules and 

 regulations in the absence of congressional policies and goals, is undesirable. 



