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(Washington-AP) -- Ranchers across the West will see an increase in the monthly fee they pay to graze their herds on federal land.
Beginning March first, the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service will raise their monthly rate from a dollar-35 to a dollar-43 per month. The monthly fee covers grazing of a horse, a cow and calf, or five sheep or goats.
The fee change is based on a formula established by Congress in 1978. It will affect 18-thousand B-L-M grazing permits and leases and eight thousand Forest Service permits.
The new rate will apply to public lands in 16 Western states that are administered by the B-L-M and Forest Service. The states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
