(a) The authorized officer shall find land or water owned or controlled by an applicant to be base property (see § 4100.0-5) if:

(1) It is capable of serving as a base of operation for livestock use of public lands within a grazing district; or

(2) It is contiguous land, or, when no applicant owns or controls contiguous land, noncontiguous land that is capable of being used in conjunction with a livestock operation which would utilize public lands outside a grazing district.

(b) After appropriate consultation, cooperation, and coordination, the authorized officer shall specify the length of time for which land base property shall be capable of supporting authorized livestock during the year, relative to the multiple use management objective of the public lands.

(c) An applicant shall provide a legal description, or plat, of the base property and shall certify to the authorized officer that this base property meets the requirements under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.

(d) A permittee's or lessee's interest in water previously recognized as base property on public land shall be deemed sufficient in meeting the requirement that the applicant control base property. Where such waters become unusable and are replaced by newly constructed or reconstructed water developments that are the subject of a range improvement permit or cooperative range improvement agreement, the permittee's or lessee's interest in the replacement water shall be deemed sufficient in meeting the requirement that the applicant control base property.

(e) If a permittee or lessee loses ownership or control of all or part of his/her base property, the permit or lease, to the extent it was based upon such lost property, shall terminate immediately without further notice from the authorized officer. However, if, prior to losing ownership or control of the base property, the permittee or lessee requests, in writing, that the permit or lease be extended to the end of the grazing season or grazing year, the termination date may be extended as determined by the authorized officer after consultation with the new owner. When a permit or lease terminates because of a loss of ownership or control of a base property, the grazing preference shall remain with the base property and be available through application and transfer procedures at 43 CFR 4110.2-3, to the new owner or person in control of that base property.

(f) Applicants who own or control base property contiguous to or cornering upon public land outside a grazing district where such public land consists of an isolated or disconnected tract embracing 760 acres or less shall, for a period of 90 days after the tract has been offered for lease, have a preference right to lease the whole tract.