When more than one qualified applicant applies for livestock grazing use of the same public lands and/or where additional forage for livestock or additional acreage becomes available, the authorized officer may authorize grazing use of such land or forage on the basis of §4110.3-1 of this title or on the basis of any of the following factors:

(a) Historical use of the public lands (see §4130.2(e));

(b) Proper use of rangeland resources;

(c) General needs of the applicant's livestock operations;

(d) Public ingress or egress across privately owned or controlled land to public lands;

(e) Topography;

(f) Other land use requirements unique to the situation.

(g) Demonstrated stewardship by the applicant to improve or maintain and protect the rangeland ecosystem; and

(h) The applicant's and affiliate's history of compliance with the terms and conditions of grazing permits and leases of the Bureau of Land Management and any other Federal or State agency, including any record of suspensions or cancellations of grazing use for violations of terms and conditions of agency grazing rules.

[49 FR 6453, Feb. 21, 1984; 49 FR 12704, Mar. 30, 1984, as amended at 53 FR 10234, Mar. 29, 1988; 60 FR 9965, Feb. 22, 1995; 61 FR 4227, Feb. 5, 1996]