When the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) study on cattle grazing on public lands came in, its conclusion was clear: relaxing the regulations would have a "significant adverse impact" on the area's ecology. The report the Bush Gang released to the public, however, concludes that relaxed regulations would be "beneficial to animals."

"This is a whitewash," said former BLM biologist Erick Campbell, who worked on the original report. He claims the administration "took all of our science and reversed it 180 degrees."

The current regulations, put in place by Clinton to stop the damage overgrazing was causing to water resources, plant and wildlife, cover 160 million acres of land and limits who can use it and how much grazing can be safely done. The cattle industry has pushed for wider and easier access to the lands. With the new regulations, they'll have that. The new rules will also eliminate the obligation to seek public input on grazing decisions and relieves the BLM of their authority to police the damages grazing might cause.

» Scott Saxon