Local Ranchers Bid on McGregor Range Grazing Units
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Today, the Bureau of Land Management successfully auctioned nine grazing units within the McGregor Range in southern New Mexico. The bids ranged from $27 to $35 per Animal Unit Month, yielding $613,085 for the McGregor Range management and improvements.
The auction was conducted at the BLM Las Cruces District Office, and 34 local area ranchers attended.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 18 registered bidders.
The nine units include 20,197 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The McGregor Range includes over 606,000 acres of withdrawn lands on the west side of Otero Mesa, between Alamogordo, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. It 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.
The 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.
A major part of its multiple-use mission, the BLM strives to sustain healthy rangelands for the benefit of the American public.
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.