Public Lands Council v. Babbitt, 529 U.S. 728, 10 (2000)
Cite as: 529 U. S. 728 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
10 million AUMs between 1953 and 1998) as the following chart shows:
Despite the reductions in grazing, and some improvements following the passage of the Taylor Act, see App. 374-379 (Department of Interior, 50 Years of Public Land Management 1934-1984), the range remained in what many considered an unsatisfactory condition. In 1962, a congressionally mandated survey found only 16.6% of the range in excellent or good condition, 53.1% in fair condition, and 30.3% in poor condition. Department of Interior Ann. Rep. 62 (1962). And in 1978 Congress itself determined that "vast segments of the public rangelands are . . . in an unsatisfactory condition." 92 Stat. 1803 (codified as 43 U. S. C. § 1901(a)(1)).
D
In the 1960's, as the range failed to recover, the Secretary of the Interior increased grazing fees by more than 50% (from 19 cents to 30 cents per AUM/year), thereby helping to capture a little more of the economic costs that grazing imposed upon the land. Department of Interior Ann. Rep. 66 (1963). And in 1976, Congress enacted a new law, the
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