The effect of domestic livestock grazing on public lands is controversial. Historically, public lands were damaged through overgrazing, and some believe that this damage is continuing. Conversly, the livestock industry believes that the public lands are in better condition now than they have been in the past 100 years. This debate is particularily imprtant in the nation's so-called hot deserts-the Mojave, the Sonoran,  and the Chihuahuan - because of the fragile nature of the hot desert ecosystems and the long-term nature of recovery for most areas once damaged occurs .Concerned about this issue, the Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands , House Committee on Interior and Insular  Affairs, requested that GAO review the federal grazing program in the hot deserts as administered by the Department of the Interiors Bureau of Land Management (BLM). GAO examined (1) the environmental and budgetary costs associated with livestock grazing in desert areas, (2) the benefits resulting from this activity, and (3) HLM'S management of live- stock grazing in the hot deserts.(source purpose)
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