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Preface - Introduction - CHAPTERS: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12
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Publications and Public Relations

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Government ranching-related publications.

Be ye not deceived.

--Holy Bible

Visit any large Western university library and you will find aisles lined with hundreds of publications, government and private, geared toward ranching. The periodicals room contains a dozen different livestock journals, magazines, and newsletters. And, of course, you can pick from thousands of fictional and "non-fiction" Westerns -romanticized tales of cowboys and ranchers in the Old and New West. The authors of this literature are well paid and appreciated for their work.

At this same library you will find many publications on public land use, environment, science, politics, special interests, and even ranching that discuss uncomplimentary aspects of Western ranching, some suggesting modest reforms. Only a small handful do so in detail, and only 3 sizable writings encompass public lands ranching as a whole (see bibliography).

Put simply, it is not financially, politically, or socially advantageous to produce literature confronting the ranching imperative. And few people are inclined or able to spend months or years of their fife on a major work almost guaranteed to make enemies and produce little or no income. The same holds true for audio, video, and other forms of communication. Consequently, most of what we see, read, and hear is heavily biased to favor public lands ranching. That's what sells, pays, and garners social esteem.

Various federal, state, and county agencies put out an incredible number and variety of livestock-oriented leaflets, folders, papers, pamphlets, periodicals, bulletins, brochures, booklets, and books. Nearly all of these publications are available to stockmen "free of charge" -- that is, courtesy of the taxpayer.

Their authors understand the unwritten rules and guidelines designed to protect the ranching industry and the agencies' self-serving involvement in it. Most of this literature is loaded with hollow rhetoric, misrepresentation, and outright falsehoods, along with plentiful breast-beating bullshit.

When the word "overgrazing" is found at all in government publications, it is almost always in the past tense. "Multiple use" is used nearly as a synonym for livestock ranching. The words "livestock" or "range management" in a sentence are commonly accompanied by words like "benefit wildlife" or "protect watersheds." Public lands ranching is a "developing science" with glorious potential. By semi-official decree, the word "desertification" is no longer used by the federal government in relation to the Western range. Public lands ranchers are now "producers" -a word with only positive connotations. Ranching developments have been called "range improvements" for decades, and now the agencies have even taken to calling them "range accomplishments." And so forth. (Send for USDA's Livestock Grazing Successes on Public Range -- USDA 1989 in bibliography.)

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The stockmen seem to hope that by improved public relations methods they may be able to secure additional appropriations for range improvement without losing their present autonomy in the grazing districts and without raising their grazing fees.

--Phillip 0. Foss, Politics and Grass (Foss 1960)

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These 2 photos are taken from the Forest Service pamphlet Livestock Grazing Successes on Public Range. The top photo portrays a barren and degraded riparian area; the bottom photo shows the same scene 10 years later as mostly greenery. We are told that this was accomplished through improved grazing management "with no reduction in livestock numbers." A close look at the top photo, however, reveals patches of snow at upper left (indicating that the photo was taken in winter, when vegetation would be barren of foliage), and that much of the woody vegetation had recently been cut as well. This propaganda piece is found in every BLM and Forest Service office in the West. The Public Lands Council helped produce the handout, but contributed only a token $500 to its cost. (USFS)

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Photos and graphics in government publications portray what the ranching establishment wants us to see -- luxuriant, grass-filled meadows grazed by fat, healthy cattle and sheep, before and after shots of the most successful range restoration projects, the best grass seedings at their height of productivity, wild animals drinking from stock tanks, ranchers and range managers smiling and shaking hands, and romantic scenes of cattle round-ups and windmills silhouetted against sunsets. These are not selected randomly, but are carefully chosen or created to showcase ranching and its government bureaucracies in the best possible light. In these times of increasingly professional, more effective manipulation of public opinion, the agencies consciously avoid portraying embarrassing situations. For instance, in a recent conversation with BLM's Public Affairs office in Washington, DC, in response to a request for photos of BLM overgrazing an official told me, "We used to get a lot of overgrazing photos [from state and local BLM offices] in the 50s and 60s, but no one sends us the overgrazing photos anymore."

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While some government productions (such as the "Operation Respect" pamphlet portrayed on the following page) are comically amateur, most read more like professionally produced insurance company promotion pamphlets or travel agency brochures. Like Pepsi Cola, Merrill-Lynch, and IT&T, government agencies have become public relations specialists. They know what drives the American public, what it wants, what it fears, how to influence opinion and minimize opposition. For instance, 27 Montana Forest Service staffers recently completed 2-week marketing courses at Montana State University because, according to one, "our credibility with the public is suspect."

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The cover of a BLM pamphlet depicts a domestic sheep posed in noble fashion on a mountain top, a la bighorn.

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Shortly after these Brahman cattle were released onto this very lightly grazed, well-grassed Texas range, SCS took publicity photos. (SCS, USDA)

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I would have liked here to examine the contents of various publications, but space does not allow. Suffice it to say that it behooves the prudent reader to read between the lines.

The ranching industry itself also keeps the public and the politicians snowed with a plethora of TV spots, radio commercials, billboard messages, and print ads (as if these media aren't already saturated with cowboy worship). For the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, the National Cattlemen's Association and Beef Promotion and Research Board ran a fullpage ad in The New York Times proclaiming in large, bold letters EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY FOR AMERICAN CATTLEMEN and claiming all sorts of related environmental benefits to the Western range.

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The industry sponsors promotional presentations and exhibits at public schools, as well as at civic and private functions. It endears the public to ranching with productions at fairs, parades, holiday celebrations, and other special events. To further increase its palatability, the industry has begun placing women in high-profile, public relations positions. It holds press conferences in which these women stand before the cameras with baby lambs in their arms, asking for more predator "control."

A recent TV news broadcast included a story on how last summer's high rainfall had finally relieved hard-pressed local ranchers from relentless drought. A couple of particularly scruffily dressed cowboys were shown driving some cows out onto the open range, while the reporter explained the tough times they'd been having for so long before the rains. You couldn't help but pity these poor, hard-working fellows and wish them the . . . but hey ... what's that name again? I know him; he's no destitute, dusty cowpoke, but an extravagant, multi-millionaire grazier -powerful, arrogant, a trespasser of livestock and builder of unauthorized ranching developments on public land. The public will eat it up! How many newscasts misrepresenting wealthy public lands ranchers as dusty, downtrodden cowpokes have I seen recently? Or staged photos of little boys with oversized cowboy hats on horseback alongside their rancher daddies in newspapers and magazines? Or TV commercials with 3-year-old cow-babies swinging lassos?

And as if all this weren't enough, every time someone dares use their First Amendment rights to express their opposition to public lands ranching, the industry immediately sounds the alarm and activates its highly organized defamation and misinformation network. The unfortunate individual is soon cowering under a barrage of disparaging letters, telegrams, and phone calls from rancher good guys and their loyal supporters throughout the West.

White Papers on Grazing Available

The Public Lands Council has completed the first phase of the program to educate policy makers to the importance of grazing on public lands. The "White Papers" were distributed to all [National Cattlemen's Association] Board Members attending the Washington, D. C. Board Meeting... To help distribute the White Papers, [California Cattlemen's Association] Officers delivered and discussed the document with Congressional representatives and Congressional staff in every California office during the NCA Board Meeting.

--from the California Cattlemen's Association newsletter

The beef quality grade "USDA Good" was renamed "USDA Select" to present a more positive image for this grade of beef .... The decision to change the name was made in response to a petition from the Public Voice for Food and Health Policy, supported by other consumer and health organizations, as well as the National Cattlemen's Association and the American Meat Institute.

--Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1987

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