In response to drought-like conditions across Colorado, Gov. Bill Owens has asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to loosen grazing restrictions on Colorado Conservation Reserve Program acres.

"Due to extraordinary dry weather, which brought about the state’s high forest-fire conditions, field crops and growth of grass on pastures throughout the state have been severely damaged," said Owens. "Devastating freezes have damaged crops and prolonged drought has damaged pastureland."

The conservation program provides federal funds to farmers who sign up to conserve some or all of their land over a 10- to 15-year period. In return for market value, the farmers agree to take their land out of production.

Before farmers can submit requests to allow grazing on their CRP allotments, there must be a four-month history of precipitation below 60 percent of normal in the area. According to Paul White, county executive director with the Farm Service Agency, the local area has had about 70 percent of normal precipitation.

In addition to dry conditions, frost in May caused severe damage to alfalfa and other area crops.

Owens is asking the USDA to waive this requirement, which would open up the area’s close to 42,000 CRP acres to the 150,000 cattle and sheep grazing on public and private lands in Montezuma and Dolores counties.

"It’s obviously a problem right now because we’ve had such a dry spring and summer," said Dalton Montgomery, district conservationist for Montezuma County.

The last time that grazing was allowed on CRP acres was in 1996, when a severe drought hit the counties.

If CRP is grazed, the government will reduce payments on the land. According to White, one of the problems with grazing on CRP is that most of the land has no live water, and ranchers would be forced to haul water to their cattle and sheep.

White said that most ranchers try other ways of feeding their animals before putting them on CRP acres. "Cattle are just like kids. They go to what tastes the best," said White.

Most of the cattle and sheep in the area grazing on public lands start in June and are taken off in October. If they complete their permitted pasture rotation earlier than expected, ranchers will be forced to either feed their animals expensive hay, lease other pasture, or graze on CRP acres.