By Ken Koerner
Register Staff

3-18-2008

An Owens Valley rancher is the first in the area to enter into a joint rangeland monitoring agreement with the Bureau of Land Management.

Lone Tree Cattle Company owner Ken Zimmerman and Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Manager Bill Dunkleberger recently announced the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) had been signed. “This agreement is the first of its kind for the BLM’s Bishop office,” Dunkelberger said. “It establishes a framework and specific plans to cooperatively monitor the BLM rangelands associated with Lone Tree’s (grazing) allotments north of Bishop.”

Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office Manager Bill Dunkelberger (l) and Lone Tree Cattle Company owner Ken Zimmerman agree to a cooperative rangeland monitoring agreement. This agency-rancher collaboration is a first for BLM’s Bishop office. Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management

From the rancher’s perspective, the agreement should serve to ensure current conditions on the ground are being reflected whenever data is being reviewed.
“The BLM does have some current data to work with, but that’s not always the case,” Zimmerman said. “In the past I’ve seen database information about my allotments that were really out of date. With this agreement we’ve signed, it should be possible for everyone to have a truer sense of rangeland conditions.”
Zimmerman explained that during the last year, discussions about measurement protocols ensure the BLM can be confident that what Lone Tree is reporting will reflect the same specifics that BLM will find when doing it itself.
According to the BLM office, such cooperative monitoring agreements are “an important tool that increases our capaity to better manage livestock grazing and maintain desired range conditions on public lands.”
The impacts of grazing on soil, water and vegetation are regularly evaluated by the BLM on all of the land it leases to permittees. In most cases, Dunkelberger explained, the BLM is conducting independent surveys on permitted land, which at times has led to disagreement related to those findings.
“Key to why we (BLM) think so highly about the cooperative monitoring program is that it really creates a much better dialogue with the permittee,” said Dunkelberger. “We get a better understanding of their needs and the information that we’re sharing is clearer to both sides. We learn from each other and it certainly improves the relationships with the ranchers.”
While Lone Tree Cattle Company is the first in the area to sign a cooperative agreement, Zimmerman was involved in discussions with two other cattle operations that will also soon be signing a MOU with the BLM.
“The Flying M Ranch – most people might know it as the Hilton Ranch – and the Fulstone Ranch up in Smith Valley, Nev. were working alongside us on this approach for most of a year,” said Zimmerman. “We all felt it would benefit us to tackle certain aspects as a joint effort; but there were some delays that came along at one point or another and I went on ahead on my own to get this thing done for Lone Tree.”
Dunkelberger confirmed that similar agreements are in the final stages of development with those other two BLM permittees.
“Ranchers today have more tools at their disposal to make the best judgments about grazing,” Zimmerman said. “In the old days they’d just look to see where they thought the best forage was and move the cattle right on over; but with our increased awareness of rangeland managment, today’s rancher can better decide if that really is the best choice. We hope this new agreement will help us and be a win-win situation for everybody.”