Local Ranchers Bid on McGregor Range Grazing Units
Organization
BLM Office:
Media Contact:
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) successfully auctioned six grazing units within the McGregor Range in southern NM. The bids ranged from $20 to $35 per Animal Unit Month (AUM), yielding $489,092 for the McGregor Range management and improvements.
Held at 10 a.m. in the BLM Las Cruces District Office, 22 local area ranchers attended the auction. Prior to each unit being offered, the BLM range staff described the unit location, characteristics and grazing timeframes, before opening up the auction to the 15 registered bidders.
The six units include 18,262 AUMs of forage to graze livestock for 9 months, and one and two-year periods. (An AUM is the amount of forage to feed one cow and calf.)
The McGregor Range includes over 606,000 acres of withdrawn lands on the west side of Otero Mesa, between Alamogordo, NM and El Paso, Texas. The Range is jointly managed by the BLM and the U.S. Army, in accordance with the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999, and subsequent with the 2006 McGregor Range Resource Management Plan.
BLM Las Cruces District is responsible for managing the grazing units, including coordinating with the military on the trainings and the ranchers on their livestock operations. The BLM rangeland management specialists also provide the necessary range maintenance and improvements for the offered units.
In addition, representatives from Fort Bliss and Hollman Air Force Base attended the auction to explain the scope of the military training and schedules, which will affect a few of the units directly.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.