R850-50-400. Permit Approval Process

  1. On trust lands that are unpermitted and which are available for grazing, applications may be solicited through any method the agency determines appropriate, including notification of adjacent landowners and other permittees in an allotment.

  2. On trust lands subject to an expiring grazing permit, competing applications shall be accepted from April 1 to April 30, or the next working day if either of these days is a weekend or holiday, of the year in which the permit terminates.

  (a) All expiring and terminated grazing permits shall be posted on the agency's website by January 1 of the year in which the permit expires or the year after the permit was terminated, provided that the permitted property has been determined to be available for grazing by the agency. The website notice shall include any reimbursable investment made by an existing permittee on a range improvement. Notice that expiring grazing permits may be found on the agency's website may also be published.

  (b) Grazing permits issued on trust lands acquired through an exchange with the federal government (after the expiration of the federal permit) shall not be subject to the provisions of this rule for two successive 15-year terms unless the permit has been sold or otherwise terminated.

  3. A person holding an expiring grazing permit shall have the right to renew the permit, provided that no competing applications are received, by submitting a completed application along with the first year's rent and other applicable fees.

  4. Persons desiring to submit a competing application must do so on forms acceptable to the agency. Forms are available at the offices listed in R850-6-200(2)(b) or from the agency's website. Applications must include:

  (a) a non-refundable application fee;

  (b) a one-time bonus bid; and

  (c) an amount determined by the agency pursuant to R850-50-1100(7), which will be required to reimburse the holder of an authorized range improvement project should the competing application be accepted.

  5. Bonus bids and range improvement reimbursements shall be refunded to unsuccessful applicants. Upon establishment of the yearly rental rate, the successful applicant shall be required to submit the first year's rental and other required fees.

  6. Applications shall be evaluated by the agency and may be accepted only if the agency determines that the applicant's grazing activity will not create unmanageable problems of trespass, range and resource management, or access.

  (a) For purposes of this evaluation, adjoining permittees and lessees, adjoining property owners, and adjoining federal permittees may be considered acceptable as competing applicants unless specific problems are demonstrated.

  (b) Applicants not meeting the requirements in (a) above, whose uses would not unreasonably conflict with the uses of other permittees in the area, may nevertheless be accepted if the size of the grazing area, the access to the grazing area, and other factors demonstrate that the applicant is able to utilize the area without adverse impact on the range resources, adjoining lands, or beneficiaries of affected trust lands.

  (c) For purposes of evaluating an applicant's acceptability as a grazing permittee, the agency may consider:

  (i) the applicant's ability to maintain any water rights appurtenant to the lands described in the application;

  (ii) the applicant's ownership of private land in the area;

  (iii) the applicant's ownership of grazing privileges in the BLM or Forest Service allotment where the trust land is located;

  (iv) the type and number of livestock owned by the applicant; and

  (v) management costs to the agency should the application be approved.

  7. The holder of a permit which is expiring, on which a competing application has been received, shall have a preference right to permit the property provided he agrees to pay an amount equal to the highest bonus bid submitted by a competing applicant.

  (a) In the event that the existing permittee fails to match the highest bonus bid, the permittee may be refunded the value of the amount the permittee contributed to the cost of any approved range improvement project at the expense of the successful bonus bid applicant.

  (b) In the event that all, or a portion of, the property on which a bonus bid was submitted is sold, exchanged, or otherwise made unavailable, the permittee shall receive the refund of a prorated amount of the bonus bid based on the AUMs lost to the use of the permittee.