If $1.35 per AUM (4.5¢ per day) is a fair price to charge the public-lands ranchers, why is the BLM paying $60 per AUM ($2 per day) for horses in long-term holding?
Probably because $60 represents the market rate, which means the ranchers are getting a sweetheart deal. That needs to change because many of those horses were forced off the range to pacify the ranchers.
Given that roughly nine million AUMs are sold to the ranchers annually, the additional revenue—at a fee of $60 per AUM—would amount to $528 million per year, a nice offset to the costs of the WHB program.
RELATED: 2019 Grazing Fee Announced.
