Aimed at bolstering the nation’s beef cattle herd and cutting administrative delays on federal rangelands, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed Secretarial Order (SO) 3454 on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Titled “Supporting America’s Ranchers Through Resilient Rangelands,” the order directs the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to aggressively streamline livestock grazing permit renewals, expand access to vacant allotments, target invasive fuels that drive catastrophic wildfires and adopt a formal policy goal of “no net loss of Animal Unit Months (AUMs)” across department-managed rangelands.
The order was swiftly welcomed by western cattlemen, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC), who view the directives as an essential upstream catalyst for rebuilding historically tight domestic cattle inventories.
Another HUGE win for American ranchers,thanks to @SecretaryBurgum and @Interior! 🇺🇸🐂 Under @POTUS, we are taking a WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT approach to strengthening American ranching. Through the partnership between @USDA and @Interior, this Administration has taken major steps to: ✅ Improve grazing management on federal lands ✅ Expand access to grazing opportunities ✅ Strengthen coordination between federal agencies ✅ Cut burdensome red tape for producers Now, this new order builds on that progress by restoring suspended grazing capacity (AUMs), prioritizing unused grazing allotments, and opening the door to more opportunities on federal lands. This is what it looks like when an entire Administration works together to deliver for American agriculture!
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) October 27, 2026
Cutting Red Tape and Restoring Operational Certainty
At the heart of SO 3454 is a direct response to longstanding livestock industry frustrations over permit backlogs and federal administrative barriers. The order establishes concrete, immediate timelines across all Interior bureaus with grazing authority — including the BLM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Bureau of Reclamation:
- 30-Day Allotment Audit: Interior agencies have 30 days to review unallotted or vacant lands and identify areas suitable for renewed livestock grazing.
- 60-Day Permit Backlog Elimination Plan: BLM Director Steve Pearce and agency leadership must deliver an actionable roadmap within 60 days to clear the agency’s persistent backlog of grazing permit renewals.
- Full 10-Year Permit Terms: The order mandates issuing grazing permit renewals for their full statutory 10-year duration, rather than short-term administrative extensions, to give ranches the multi-year certainty required to secure operating credit and invest in range infrastructure.
- No Net Loss of AUMs: DOI directives establish that grazing capacity should be maintained or increased wherever possible, establishing a benchmark of “no net loss of AUMs” and integrating technological tools to expedite environmental and permit reviews.
“Under the leadership of President Trump, we are committed to restoring the promise of our working landscapes and supporting the hardworking American families who depend on them,” Burgum says. “This order cuts through bureaucratic red tape to deliver certainty and flexibility for our nation’s ranchers. By promoting healthy rangelands and expanding grazing opportunities, we are strengthening our food supply, reinvigorating rural economies, and ensuring the legacy of American ranching continues for generations to come.”
Ranchers See Vital Tool for Herd Expansion and Fire Mitigation
Livestock organizations note accessing idle forage on long-vacant public allotments will offer immediate relief for cow-calf and yearling operators struggling with pasture availability, high feed input costs and escalating wildfire threats.
Kim Brackett, NCBA President-elect and an Idaho public lands grazing permittee, emphasizes the connection between active livestock grazing and wildfire mitigation. “Ranchers work every day to improve rangeland health and manage the fuel loads that lead to devastating wildfire, but there has always been an enormous amount of red tape preventing ranchers from utilizing important forage on vacant grazing allotments,” Brackett says. “This Secretarial Order streamlines permitting to get ranchers back on these long-neglected areas and carry out important voluntary conservation work. Ranchers across the West appreciate DOI Secretary Burgum and BLM Director Pearce for standing with American ranchers.”
Public Lands Council President Ron Cerri, an Orovada, Nev., rancher, points to the order as a clear recognition of ranchers as essential land-management partners rather than obstacles.
“PLC has long led industry efforts to improve grazing flexibility to empower livestock producers to quickly make decisions that fully incorporate the needs of the land, livestock production and multiple-use requirements,” Cerri says. “Today’s Secretarial Order makes clear that Secretary Burgum views ranchers as partners in important land management decisions. We look forward to seeing the components of the SO come to life in regulatory improvements, like the much-anticipated revision of BLM grazing regulations.”
Alignment Across Interior and USDA
Tuesday’s announcement reinforces a coordinated, cross-cabinet push between DOI and USDA. Earlier this year, Secretary Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to align grazing oversight between the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service, which together oversee roughly 240 million acres of public rangeland supporting more than 23,000 permittees.
Echoing the announcement on X, Rollins highlights opening up idle public ground is directly tied to the administration’s broader push to expand domestic cattle numbers and improve supply chain resilience. “More grazing access means more opportunity to raise American cattle and strengthen our beef supply,” Rollins shares, emphasizing efforts to reopen vacant federal allotments, cut permit renewal delays and elevate working rangelands across both the Forest Service and DOI.
This inter-agency alignment complements USDA’s October 2025 Grazing Action Plan, its June Forest Service Grazing Directive targeting an increase of 500,000 head-months, and recent federal investments into downstream regional processing infrastructure.
What to Watch Next
For western ranchers operating on public allotments, the true test of SO 3454 will come down to field-level execution:
- BLM Field Office Guidance: Producers should monitor local BLM field and district offices over the next 30 to 60 days as Interior issues operational instructions regarding allotment evaluations and the expedited permit process.
- Vacant Allotment Application Protocols: Grazing associations and local permittees holding base property near vacant or unallocated parcels should watch for announcements regarding re-applications and temporary non-renewable (TNR) grazing authorizations.
- BLM Grazing Regulations Overhaul: As highlighted by PLC, the order lays groundwork for long-awaited revisions to Title 43 CFR Part 4100 (BLM grazing regulations), where industry advocates are pushing to permanently codify outcome-based grazing and flexible turn-out dates.
