HB0226 –State lands grazing leases
02/19/09
Forbes
By MATT JOYCE , 02.19.09, 11:15 AM EST

Republican state Rep. Lisa Shepperson, a rancher from Midwest, sponsored the bill. She said the measure is necessary to stop an upward trend in the number of contested leases, which put a financial strain on ranching families.

Two cases from 2008 represent the need for a cap on bids, she said. In both cases, the lease rate per Animal Unit (nyse: UNT - news - people ) Month - or the amount of forage required to sustain one cow and one calf for one month's time - was bid up from $5.21 to $28.

Observers say the competing bids are normally brought by disgruntled neighbors or other interests, such as energy companies or out-of-state ranching operations looking to get a base in Wyoming.

"If you go into a knock-down drag-out - 'we're going to get the highest value we can for every piece of land we can' - it's going to turn into a bloodbath," said Shepperson, whose family holds state grazing leases but has not had a contested lease.

"It's just like renting your home," Shepperson said. "You don't want to get the maximum value every month and you're switching renters every month. You want someone who's going to pay a good fair market price and be stable and take care of the land." ...forbes.com