The battles around public lands and whether they should remain in federal hands is the subject of a new documentary being screened Monday night in Tempe.
Narrated by Tom Brokaw, the film “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman” details the alliances between cattlemen, federal agencies, hunters and environmental groups to protect and preserve wildlife and pristine landscapes for future generations.
Miriam Horn wrote the book on which the documentary was based. She said the theme departs from the often caustic portrayal of ranchers versus the government in recent high-profile cases involving the Bundy family, for instance.
“The rancher that’s at the center of the first act of the movie is pretty outspoken on what it means to be a responsible landowner and responsible about public grazing leases," Horn said. "He’s a pretty outspoken critic of the Bundy family and views them as outlaws. He does not see them as representative of the 99 percent of the ranchers he knows who stay up to date on their grazing fees and are really respectful of the land.”
An advanced screening of the film is Monday at 6 p.m. in the ASU Memorial Union Pima Auditorium Room 230.