By Mackenzie Shuman, Harrison Mantas, Yael Grauer, Molly Duerig and Grayson Schmidt | Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
It was more than a century ago that the federal government gave the new state of Arizona over 10 million acres of land — with the stipulation that revenue from the sale or lease of the land be earmarked to support public education.
But for at least two decades — and perhaps much longer — the leasing of more than 8 million acres of that land for cattle grazing appears to have benefited cattle ranchers more than public education:
Ranchers this year pay just $2.76 a month to graze each cow on state land.
It costs almost four times as much to graze a cow on privately owned land in Arizona — roughly $10 per cow a month last year. (It also would cost more than twice as much to feed a household cat.)
Most other western states charge ranchers four or five times as much as Arizona for grazing cows on state-owned land:
New Mexico charges ranchers twice what Arizona does, at $5.60 per cow per month.
Other states charge much more. In Montana, $13.10 per month; in Nevada, $15; and in Colorado, $14.51.
