PIÑON — What will be the criteria for reissuing grazing permits to persons living on Navajo Partitioned Land? Presently, no one knows. But the Navajo Nation has a 180-day timeline to figure it out once the Bureau of Indian Affairs publishes the final rule in the Federal Register.

"This is basically an ongoing discussion that addresses the issue of who would be eligible to engage in grazing activities within Navajo Partitioned Land (NPL) which presently does not have any provision to have livestock," said George Arthur, Resources Committee chairman, following a meeting on NPL grazing, held last week at Pinon Community School.

Grazing permits for persons living on NPL were canceled by a U.S. District Court order issued in 1973. As a result, Arthur said, some families that have been forced to relocate have moved their livestock onto their relatives' or to their neighbors' land.

"In those type of incidents, they basically don't have any grazing permits and they're basically in violation. So those are things we are trying to address, as to which individual would have priority in reference to re-establishing the appropriate grazing privilege within Navajo Partitioned Land."

New regulations The BIA is adding a new part to its regulations governing livestock grazing on NPL, the Navajo-Hopi Former Joint Use Area of the 1882 Executive Order reservation. The purpose of the regulation is to conserve NPL rangelands in order to maximize future use of the land, while recognizing the importance of livestock in the Navajo way of life.

The committee received a report on the proposed eligibility criteria from Ron Jones of the Grazing Management Program for the Department of Agriculture, with Wilbert Goy, Navajo/Hopi Land Commission.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs presented the proposed regulation to the Resources Committee in August. Arthur said the committee is still evaluating 25 CFR Part 161, "which is the document that would give guidance as to how grazing would be addressed in NPL. The Resources Committee needs to develop the eligibility criteria," he said.

The proposed NPL Grazing Regulations are awaiting approval by the Navajo Nation. Notice of the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on Nov. 12, 2003, and public meetings were held in Tonalea and Pinon in December. The Department of the Interior received 63 written comments representing 53 individual signers.

All substantive comments were reviewed, according to BIA, and depending on their merit, either were accepted with revision or rejected. Commenters raised numerous concerns and questions. Some pointed out that the regulation did not clearly identify whether BIA or the Navajo Nation would oversee particular activities, and also expressed concern about the difficulty of enforcing the regulation.

New permits Of particular concern last week was Subpart E pertaining to the reissuance of canceled grazing permits. That subpart makes it clear that if the Navajo Nation does not set eligibility requirements for grazing allocations within 180 days after the effective date of the NPL grazing regulations, then BIA will impose eligibility requirements after that time, "or in the event that the Navajo Nation does not take satisfactory action."

If the Nation can demonstrate that it is making progress, it can ask for an extension of the deadline.

Subpart E describes how new permits may be granted after the initial reissuance and sets forth the procedures for reissuing and allocating permits within each range unit.

Barbara Greyeyes, a member of the NPL District Grazing Committee, said, "The way it's written, I think the Navajo people are going to be losing their grazing rights."

Greyeyes told Resources Committee members that in her area, "about 95 percent are not going to get their customary use area. You have a great impact to the people because only a few are going to be getting their grazing area back."

In the old tribal records, she said, " it states that every Navajo individual who has a Census number is eligible for grazing rights. In this one, it doesn't even say anything. The only thing on eligibility is that those people that have grazing permits are the ones that's going to be eligible to graze on the land."

One change recommended to Resources pertained to the establishment of priority criteria. During the comment period, concerns were raised that the proposed regulations give priority to persons over age 65.

Presenters last week recommended that first priority go to individuals "who present evidence that they have an agreement with their neighbors as to the boundaries of their customary use area and who have joint recommendations as to the number of permits to be issued and who should receive permits within a range unit. The second priority will go to individuals over the age of 65."

Presenters said, "Younger adults should have the opportunity to be responsible for grazing permits."

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