The Politics of Managing Livestock on Public Lands
Mike Hudak interviews Don Oman, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service, about his experience working with the agency as a part of Hudak’s series of interviews compiled for Western Turf Wars: The Politics of Public Lands Ranching
Don Oman, a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service explains how political pressure initiated by ranchers leads to environmentally harmful management of livestock grazing on federal public lands.
Raised on a Montana farm, Don Oman, earned his bachelor’s degree in forest management from the University of Montana. In 1987, after twenty-three years with the US Forest Service, he became district ranger on the Twin Falls Ranger District (Sawtooth National Forest, ID) where he found severe environmental damage caused by livestock. During his ten years on the district, Mr. Oman came to national attention because of conflicts with ranchers over the management of their cattle under his jurisdiction.
This video is an excerpt from a much longer interview with Oman contained in WESTERN TURF WARS: THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC LANDS RANCHING. See http://westernturfwars.com for details.
3 Responses to The Politics of Managing Livestock on Public Lands
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Join 951 other subscribersRecent Posts
- Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support March 27, 2023
- The Douglas Fir National Monument Proposal March 24, 2023
- Biden Designates Two National Monuments March 21, 2023
- Biden Administration Approves Willow Project and Other Threats to Alaskan Wilderness March 13, 2023
- Blue Mountains Don’t Need Active Forest Management March 3, 2023
Recent Comments
- Jeff Hoffman on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Ida Lupine on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Ted Chu on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Ed Loosli on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Maggie Frazier on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- David on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Ed Loosli on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Ed Loosli on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Linda Horn on Pryor Mountains Horse Management Plan Revision Needs Support
- Jean Brocklebank on The Douglas Fir National Monument Proposal
- River Nomad on The Douglas Fir National Monument Proposal
- Jeff Hoffman on The Douglas Fir National Monument Proposal
- Ida Lupine on The Douglas Fir National Monument Proposal
- Ida Lupine on Biden Designates Two National Monuments
- Ed Loosli on The Douglas Fir National Monument Proposal
If you lived for any length of time in this part of the country – Montana, Idaho, Wyoming – its not hard to relate to Don Oman’s concerns………….
Few are as brace Oman was, and of those who were, they often lost their jobs.
Having lived in the West all my life, I’m just not seeing any agency people anymore with the grit of Don Oman. Maybe college kids are being told, if you want to tell the truth and obey the law, don’t go to work for the BLM or USFS.