Those same 800 head would cost you 60,000 a year here on private property. Hey if you want to get in bed with the BLM you go right a head but don’t expect any sympathy when they pull the plug and leave you hanging. But I do want to thank you for giving an excellent example of what I said in an earlier comment. Instead of reducing your herd to a level your land can maintain you have put yourself in a position where you have to reach outside just to maintain your herd which puts you at the mercy of the BLM. I don’t bash ranchers but I will point out what I think is a bad/risky business decision.
Many ranches here in the Western States were owned/utilized by ranching families before the GOVERNMENT took over management.
What you do not understand is that the Forest Service land was intended to be used as a resource for the people of the state. It was supposed to be utilized under a Multiple Use philosophy, providing a resource for the citizens of the area. Income generated through Timber sales and livestock grazing was to be returned to the county, under PILT-Payments in Lieu of Taxes. (This was designed to offset the loss of revenue since the land was not going to be privately owned.)
The Hammond family has been dealing with Government bureaucrats who think they know better and have more rights than the private citizens.
At todays cattle prices, it appears your 800 head on private property would be unsustainable, but that is beside the point. azkathy has just explained in depth what ranchers in the 12 Western States have to deal with. Out west of Tejas the BLM rules, and ranchers have no or very limited choice in the matter.
The majority of land is in Federal hands when it should be in State or private hands, and as such it is unproductive in the extreme which costs you and I tax money to support the BLM and Forest service doing a very poor management job.
Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution explains in depth and specifically enumerates what the Government is allowed to do. It has outgrown it’s usefulness other than national defense, and I at times question how well they are doing on that subject.
The bottom line is Western ranchers would love to not have to deal with Government agencies, but it is a way of life. In most cases they have no or little choice, in order to save their private grazing land, they have to have summer range to preserve their own grass and that is where BLM and Forest Service come into the picture. If you have to buy hay in the winter, depending on cattle prices, thinning the herd becomes a real option.