Trouble in Tortuga!
A Rangeland Conflict Simulation Exercise

Confidential Instructions

You have worked hard to be responsive and responsible, and all you seem to get are complaints and threats. First, the environmental group, Save the Arid Grassland Environment (SAGE), and now the ranchers. There are good people in Tortuga, but trying to please everyone without giving away the store just seems impossible at this point. The Forest Service's "Multiple Use" policy requires you to try to accommodate often conflicting demands--recreational, environmental, commercial, and so on. But it is far from clear how you are supposed to accomplish this when people are so polarized.

Last year's production-utilization survey clearly shows the carrying capacity of the range has been exceeded for too long; most importantly, Las Culebras Wash had been badly overgrazed. Reducing grazing is the right thing to do, particularly along the wash. People may holler for a while, but these are changing times and sometimes collective needs outweigh individual rights. As your old mentor used to say, "The forest doesn't know what district it's in." With SAGE's suit in the wind, the time has never been better to implement sound forest management practices that protect the long-term health of the ecosystem.

Nevertheless, the reality is that it will be a hard fight to reduce the allotments. When push comes to shove, you can't be sure how your boss will respond. Political pressures are real. And years of litigation will leave no one better off. At this point, maybe you could agree to some kind of delayed or phased-in reduction, or at the very least, an immediate plan to preserve and remediate Las Culebras Wash. Anything's better than legal stalemates and hostile notes on your windshield.