Is Hunting Allowed on BLM Grazing Leases

[Corax]

I get a newsletter called Wyoming Wildlife News, from Wy G&F. An article mentioned that hunting is not allowed on BLM land leased for grazing. I have hunted mostly USFS rather than BLM land in the past, but have not run across this before. Is this common?

 

[Big Fin]

Not sure who wrote that, but it is false. I hunt BLM a lot, and even if it is leased, hunting IS allowed.

 

[Corax]

Thanks. The article appeared to be written to promote turkey hunting in Wyoming, and since it was in a G&F publication, I assumed they were trying to get a message across. They gave some links so I will follow up with BLM.

 

[1_pointer]

Not sure who wrote that, but it is false. I hunt BLM a lot, and even if it is leased, hunting IS allowed.

Yep. I'm not even sure BLM can limit the hunting anywhere, the state has that authority. For some areas they work together on determining closure boundaries, but the state is the only one that can enforce it. A popular ATV riding area outside of SLC, UT is closed to target shooting by the BLM. However, one can still hunt there as the state has not closed that area to hunting.

FWIW, while there are some "leases" for grazing, most the BLM grazing on BLM is through a permit. While largely a semmantic difference to the sportsman, neither a lease nor a permit grant the holder of which to control access or activities on those lands. Preventing legal access is a prohibitive act and can be cause for penalty to include loss of grazing privledges or civil/criminal penalties. From the regs:

(7) Interfering with lawful uses or users including obstructing free transit through or over public lands by force, threat, intimidation, signs, barrier or locked gates;

 

[Eric Albus]

corax, blm can be accessed by anyone. Permitee's can not stop you from accessing that land....as you own it just as much as I do, all my permit allows is a surface right to the grazing....so the guy from New York owns that BLM, FS, CMR just as much as I do, even if I am grazing it.

1 pointer, you are wrong. BLM does have the authority to limit or end hunting, same as CMR. Do you think the Fed. Gov't would give up control of anything to the state they did not have to? Why do you think mule deer buck season closes on the north side of the lake early? CMR said so...and BLM has the same authority...they could close down season if they deemed.

 

[sweetnectar]

Good points. BLM is usually open to hunting. However, it is always good to remember that just because land is or becomes public land doesn't mean it will always be open to hunting. Seems we always have to fight for our rights to use public land for hunting.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

It's actually pretty easy for BLM authorities to close off land for public use just like the USFS can do and a simple way for them to do it is declare a fire danger and close the roads into an area. They have Rangers with arrest authority and one of their major duties is to look for access and road violations by ATVs and bigger vehicles if an area is closed to traffic at any time of the year. As stated by others, just because someone has a grazing permit or lease does not allow them to keep hunters and other persons off that property.

 

[1_pointer]

corax, blm can be accessed by anyone. Permitee's can not stop you from accessing that land....as you own it just as much as I do, all my permit allows is a surface right to the grazing....so the guy from New York owns that BLM, FS, CMR just as much as I do, even if I am grazing it.

1 pointer, you are wrong. BLM does have the authority to limit or end hunting, same as CMR. Do you think the Fed. Gov't would give up control of anything to the state they did not have to? Why do you think mule deer buck season closes on the north side of the lake early? CMR said so...and BLM has the same authority...they could close down season if they deemed.

To start, I am not questioning whether or not hunting is closed in certain areas for certain times. I fully get that. However, can you, or anyone else, show me in the regs where BLM can do that or has done it? IME, the BLM can get an area shut down, but only by working with the state who is actually the entity that has the authority to shut hunting down or not.

 

[Eric Albus]

In the memorandum of understanding between the BLM and State the BLM has the authority to regulate hunting, but ALLOWS the state to set seasons/quotas and "manage wildlife". CMR and State have a "memorandum of understanding" written as well. The State had the opportunity to do the right thing and close mule deer buck hunting 2 weeks early, but the State said "no way, we'll let biology talk and bullshite walk"....and the CMR let the b.s. walk and shut down mule deer buck season 2 weeks early, because of dismally low deer numbers. The State was really stupid to give up that facade of control, because the CMR head gave the State the opportunity to do the right thing but they would'nt.
I know this because I sat in on a lot of those meetings.

 

[1_pointer]

That helps alot, thanks! Through the MOUs, the state abdicated that authority to the feds. That surprises me as IME that is one of the more important things the state has for control on federal lands. Very interesting.

 

[smarandr]

This is an interesting topic. In the Idaho big game regs under the trespass rules there is this sentence: "It is unlawful for anyone to post public land that is not held under an exclusive control lease."

So, somehow it seems possible that you could gain some kind of exclusive control lease and prohibit the public from entering the property. Under what circumstances this can be done, I have no idea.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

A mining permit will do it. I currently work at and have worked at many mines that were on BLM land. We lease the surface and mining rights from the BLM, and recieve a permit to mine from the state and OSM. That gives us the ability to control access and use of the area under lease and permit.

 

[mtmiller]

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/guidelines_and_information.html