"Obama Admin Denies Petition to Raise Grazing Fees on Public Lands"

"The Obama administration yesterday rejected a proposal to raise grazing fees on public lands, a decision that suggests ranchers will continue to be charged below-market prices to graze cattle on federal rangelands.

The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service in separate letters yesterday to environmental groups said other priorities prevent them from pursuing new rules to revise the current grazing fee.

Both agencies also said they disagreed with the groups' legal arguments in a 2005 petition  challenging the legality of the current fee structure."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire January 18, 2011.