Title 36 Sec 222.51 Grazing Fees

Forest Service, USDA

§ 222.51

(b) Guiding establishment of fees are
the law and general governmental policy as established by Bureau of the
Budget (now, Office of Management
and Budget) Circular A–25 of September 23, 1959, which directs that a
fair market value be obtained for all
services and resources provided the
public through establishment of a system of reasonable fee charges, and that
the users be afford equitable treatment. This policy precludes a monetary consideration in the fee structure
for any permit value that may be capitalized into the permit holder’s private ranching operation.
(c) A grazing fee shall be charged for
each head month of livestock grazing
or use. A head month is a month’s use
and occupancy of range by one animal,
except for sheep or goats. A full head
month’s fee is charged for a month of
grazing by adult animals; if the grazing
animal is weaned or 6 months of age or
older at the time of entering National
Forest System lands; or will become 12
months of age during the permitted period of use. For fee purposes 5 sheep or
goats, weaned or adult, are equivalent
to one cow, bull, steer, heifer, horse, or
mule.
(d) No additional charge will be made
for the privilege of lambing upon National Forest System lands, or other
lands under Forest Service control.
(e) Transportation livestock may be
charged for at a special rate, and at a
minimum established for such use.
Fees for horses, mules, or burros associated with management of permitted
livestock on an allotment, or for research purposes and administrative
studies, and authorized on a charge
basis, are determined under provisions
of paragraph (b) of this section.
(f) The fees for trailing livestock
across National Forest System lands
will conform with the rates established
for other livestock. Where practicable,
fees for trailing permitted livestock
will be covered in the regular grazing
fee and the crossing period covered in
the regular grazing period.
(g) All fees for livestock grazing or
livestock use of National Forest System lands or other lands under Forest
Service control are payable in advance
of the opening date of the grazing period, entry, or livestock use unless oth-

erwise authorized by the Chief, Forest
Service.
(h) Unauthorized grazing use rate
will be determined by establishing a
base value without giving consideration for those contributions normally
made by the permittee under terms of
the grazing permit. The base will be adjusted annually by the same indexes
used to adjust the regular fee. This
rate will also apply to excess number of
livestock grazing by permittees; to
livestock grazed outside the permitted
grazing season; or to livestock grazed
under an unvalidated permit.
(i) Refunds or credits may be allowed
under justifiable conditions and circumstances as the Chief, Forest Service, may specify.
(j) The fee year for the purpose of
charging grazing fees will be March 1
through the following February.
(k) The data year for the purpose of
collecting beef cattle price data for
computing indexes will be November 1
through the following October and
apply to the following fee year.
[44 FR 24843, Apr. 27, 1979, as amended at 46
FR 42450, Aug. 21, 1981; 53 FR 2984, Feb. 2,
1988]

§ 222.51 National Forests in 16 Western
States.
(a) Grazing fees are established on
lands designated National Forests and
Land Utilization Projects in the 16 contiguous Western States of Arizona,
California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and
Wyoming. (National Grasslands are excluded, see § 222.52.)
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of
§ 222.50, paragraph (b), the calculated
grazing fee for 1988 and subsequent
grazing fee years represents the economic value of the use of the land to
the user and is the product of multiplying the base fair market value of
$1.23 by the result of the annual Forage
Value Index, added to the sum of the
Beef Cattle Price Index minus the
Prices Paid Index and divided by 100;
provided, that the annual increase or
decrease in such fee for any given year
shall be limited to not more than plus
or minus 25 percent of the previous
year’s fee, and provided further, that

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§ 222.52

36 CFR Ch. II (7–1–11 Edition)

the fee shall not be less than $1.35 per
head per month. The indexes used in
this formula are as follows:
(1) Forage Value Index means the
weighted average estimate of the annual rental charge per head per month
for pasturing cattle on private rangelands in the 11 Western States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming)
(computed by the National Agricultural Statistics Service) from the June
Enumerative Survey) divided by $3.65
per head month and multiplied by 100;
(2) Beef Cattle Price Index means the
weighted average annual selling price
for beef cattle (excluding calves) in the
11 Western States (Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico,
Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington,
and Wyoming) (computed by the National Agricultural Statistics Service)
for November through October (computed by the National Agricultural
Statistics Service) divided by $22.04 per
hundred weight and multiplied by 100;
and
(3) Prices Paid Index means the following selected components from the
National Agricultural Statistics Service ‘‘Annual National Index of Prices
Paid by Farmers for Goods and Services’’ adjusted by the weights indicated
in parentheses to reflect livestock production costs in the Western States:

for commercial livestock grazing use
and occupancy on National Forest System (NFS) lands in the States of New
York, Missouri, Vermont, West Virginia, and in the Southern Region shall
be determined through noncompetitive, fair market value procedures.
These rules do not apply to grazing fees
on National Forest System lands in
Oklahoma or National Grasslands in
Texas. Grazing permits under the noncompetitive fee method in the East are
subject to the rules governing grazing
permit administration in Subpart A of
this part.
(b) Applicability. The rules of this section apply to the establishment of
grazing fees for existing permittees in
the Eastern and Southern Regions on
National Forest System lands, including grazing associations in New York
and Missouri as of March 1, 1990, to any
livestock on-and-off permits defined in
Subpart A of this part; and to any allotments advertised for competitive
bidding which were not bid on
(§ 222.54(h)). Noncompetitive permits
vacated or terminated by an existing
permittee and any new allotments created after the effective date of this rule
shall be offered on a competitive bid
basis as specified in § 222.54 of this subpart. As provided in subpart A of this
part, holders of term permits have first
priority for receipt of a new permit.
(c) Fee System. The grazing fee
charged under this section shall be
based on fair market value, as determined by: Using comparable private
grazing lease rates, adjusted for the
difference in the costs of grazing comparable private leased lands and National Forest System lands, or by reference to prevailing prices in competitive markets for other Federal or State
leased grazing lands that are the same
or substantially similar to grazing
lands offered or administered by the
Forest Service in the East with comparability adjustments as appropriate.
Comparable grazing lease rates shall be
adjusted for the difference between the
total costs of operating on leased grazing lands and the total costs (other
than grazing fee costs) of operating on
National Forest System lands.
(1) Establishing Base Grazing Value. (i)
The Chief of the Forest Service, or an

1.
2.
3.
4.

Fuels and Energy (14.5);
Farm and Motor Supplies (12.0);
Autos and Trucks (4.5);
Tractors and Self-Propelled Machinery
(4.5);
5. Other Machinery (12.0);
6. Building and Fencing Materials (14.5);
7. Interest (6.0);
8. Farm Wage Rates (14.0);
9. Farm Services (18.0).
[44 FR 24843, Apr. 27, 1979, as amended at 53
FR 2984, Feb. 2, 1988]

§ 222.52 National Grasslands.
Grazing fees for National Grasslands
will be established under concepts and
principles similar to those in § 222.51(b).
[44 FR 24843, Apr. 27, 1979]

§ 222.53 Grazing fees in the East—noncompetitive procedures.
(a) Scope. Except as provided in
§ 222.54 of this subpart, the fee charged

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