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Proposed legislation wants to extend grazing permits
A proposed legislation at the Senate wants to provide “continuity and security” for agricultural and grazing permit holders in the CNMI.
Sen. Steve Mesngon (R-Rota) introduced Senate Bill 19-17, which also seeks to extend the term of the agriculture and grazing permits so that farmers may have a “fair opportunity to earn a reasonable return on their investments.”
The agricultural and grazing permit is good for one year.
Mesngon’s bill was part of the agenda at a Senate session on Thursday.
According to Mesngon, the one-year permit is an “insufficient time span” for agricultural and grazing use of public lands.
The Department of Public Lands and Department of Lands and Natural Resources are the agencies issuing the permits.
CNMI farmers and ranchers have been “limited” by the said agencies to just one year, Mesngon noted.
“If immediate attention is not paid to preserving fertile land, all such remaining land may be permanently lost to other forms of development,” Mesngon’s bill noted.
The bill further noted that the loss of the tillable land and grazeable land would make the Commonwealth immensely dependent upon the foreign importation of agricultural products.
The bill also warned that, “such irreversible foreign dependence is undesirable.”
The bill recommends a longer permit period of five years. The DPL and DLNR can also charge a “reasonable” fee for such an extension.
