Dear Arizona Permittees:

Do You Support Cattle Grazing on Public Lands?

The Public Lands Council (PLC) in Washington D.C. sole purpose is to protect grazing and public lands ranchers place on public lands. We ask for your support in continuing to fund the voice in Washington through the PLC.

At the advice of fellow ranchers, we determined the PLC program in Arizona should be reviewed and revamped. We are in the process of developing a program where Arizona public land permittees have the opportunity vote on the people that will represent Arizona permittees at the national level. While we are still a work in progress, from this point on, Arizona PLC will take nominations for the members of the committee. Currently, the President of the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association (ACGA) appoints the Chairman of this committee, and the public land ranchers vote on the other representatives for Arizona.

Currently, I am the Chairman for Arizona, and look forward to your input on the new version of the PLC program. The first round of dues letters was sent out in January, and nominations were submitted. The other representatives that have been nominated and voted on are Amber Morin, Brian DeGanahl, Bob Prosser, James Rasmussen, and Marci Schlup-Hall.

What does the PLC do for you?

PLC represents the 22,000 ranchers in the western United States who own nearly 120 million acres of private land and hold grazing permits on more than 250 million acres managed by the federal government. PLC advocates for you on every issue facing public land ranchers today and works on your behalf to combat laws, regulations, and every environmental group who wants livestock off the land. PLC addresses issues ranging from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Waters of the United States (WOTUS), wolves, wild horses and burros, wildfire prevention and recovery, and now the 30 x 30 Biden plan, just to name a few. In my opinion, if it wasn’t for the work PLC does, grazing and ranching on public land would cease to exist. PLC is the most important advocate for public lands ranchers in Washington, DC.

Dues

Each year, Arizona is invoiced $24,500 for the national PLC dues. This allows us four (4) votes on the Public Lands Council. We assess your dues at 7 cents per AUM, per month.
Examples for Cattle Ranchers:
1.100 head AUM (Animal unit per month) means you would multiply 100 head times 12 months, for a total of
1,200 AUM’s then multiply it by .07 cents (PLC fee per AUM) amount due equals = $84.00
2.500 head X 12 months = 6,000 X .07 = $420.00
 

Example for Sheep/Woolgrowers:
1.500 head X 12 months = 6,000 X .02 = $120.00 (maximum of $400 per rancher)

Should you need clarification, please do not hesitate to call. We will be happy to walk you through the calculation.

The billing we receive from PLC is generated from a “national database”, compiled by federal agencies, their data and your actual AUM’s may likely be different. We rely on you to provide the actual data and pay based on your AUM’s.
We understand this last year has been difficult, between drought, fires, and the many other problems we’re facing, including lawsuits from environmental activist groups, water right issues, Tier 1 critical water level impacts, however, in the face of all difficulties, we continue to work on your behalf. One good rain doesn’t fix all our problems, and one bad year doesn’t stop us from ranching. Please send in your contribution today!
If you prefer to pay with a credit card, you may call the office directly at (602) 267-1129, they will take your information over the phone. Or you may pay by check, payable to the ACGA (1811 S Alma School Road Ste 255, Mesa, AZ 85210) a restricted account only for PLC dues. Please note “AZ PLC Dues” on the memo line of your check.

Cut along line and return with your payment
AUM’s X 12 = ___________ X .07 = My Contribution of: $________________ Check or Credit Card
Credit card #:__________________________________Exp. Date:____________________ CVV:_________
Your Name:______________________________________________
This portion is dedicated to you selecting your own voting members. ACGA President appoints the Chairman and effective this year, the dues paying public land ranchers will have the opportunity to select the other three (3) voting members who need not be ACGA members.
Complete the form below if you would like to nominate a public land rancher as your voting member. The election will be held during the Winter Meeting, top high 3 vote recipients will then assume those voting member positions. These are two (2) year terms for the positions. The rancher being nominated must have agreed to the nomination, please confirm prior to submitting their name.
I would like to nominate ________________________________________________________________________
                                                         Name                                Address                                           Phone
If you need additional space for comments and/or additional nominees, use the back of this page and return to ACGA for the PLC committee to review.

We also understand, not all public land ranchers are ACGA members, if you would like to pay directly to the PLC, you certainly have that option. Your dues will still count toward the amount invoiced to ACGA, which has already been paid on all Arizona public land ranchers’ behalf.
I would like to thank the current committee for their input on the new Policy concerning the Public Lands Council and the process for dues paying members to elect their own representatives to the PLC.

Respectfully,
Emmett Sturgill, Chairman
Arizona Public Lands Council