SIERRA VISTA HERALD: Tues., Sept. 26, 2007
New panel to advise county on public lands issues
BISBEE — After hearing arguments from concerned ranchers Monday, the County Board of Supervisors is moving to create a committee that will advise the county on issues relating to the use of local federal and state trust lands.
The proposed nine-member Agricultural and Public Lands Commission will have no policy-making mandate — it will merely advise the Board of Supervisors, which itself has no jurisdiction over state and federal land management. However, say proponents of the plan, the county at least has a “seat at the table” when it comes to the discussion of how public lands are used. Those local ranchers and farmers who have to lease public lands in order to make their own plots of land economically viable have no such voice.
FULL STORY:
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2006/09/26/local_news/news2.txt