In a step forward for high-tech land management, Halter, and the Foundation for America’s Public Lands have expanded their virtual fencing partnership, leveraging direct-to-satellite collar technology to eliminate physical barriers across rugged Western rangelands.
One year after a successful pilot program at Cotoni-Coast Dairies in California, the organizations are scaling the technology to support sustainable ranching, wildlife conservation and public recreation across the American West.
“What we’re building with the Foundation for America’s Public Lands gives ranchers real flexibility to improve grazing while sharing that same ground with recreation, wildlife and habitat restoration,” says Andrew Fraser, Halter president. “A year after Cotoni, seeing virtual fencing thrive on public land like at Rio Grande del Norte and Muddy Creek tells us this isn’t just a one-off idea; it’s a model that holds up in the long term. We’re proud of what this partnership has built and are excited to see where it goes next.”
The Partnership at a Glance
- Total Investment: Nearly $3 million committed by the Foundation for America’s Public Lands.
- Current Scale: 15 active projects across Western states.
- Impact Metrics: More than 4,500 cattle equipped with Halter collars managing grazing across 1,300-plus miles of virtual fencing.
- Core Technology: Direct-to-satellite GPS collars that manage livestock without physical barriers.
- Primary Benefit: Enables the coexistence of cattle grazing, public recreation and ecological restoration.
“Healthy rangelands keep our public lands productive,” says I Ling Thompson, CEO of the Foundation for America’s Public Lands. “We’re proud to expand our work with Halter, partnering with ranchers to give them more options to improve rangeland health. Virtual fencing puts real tools in ranchers’ hands that support modern ranching and help these hardworking lands thrive for generations to come.”
How Does Virtual Fencing Work on Public Lands?
Traditional physical fences are expensive to build, difficult to maintain in rugged terrain and can block native wildlife migration corridors.
Halter’s virtual fencing system solves this by using GPS-enabled, satellite-connected smart collars on livestock. Ranchers use an app to draw virtual boundaries. When cattle approach these boundaries, the collars emit gentle audio cues to guide them back, eliminating the need for physical fencing.
Where Are the Virtual Fencing Projects Located?
The partnership has successfully scaled from its initial pilot to multiple ecologically sensitive public land areas across the West:
- California (Cotoni-Coast Dairies): The pilot project successfully kept livestock off newly constructed trails, allowing nearly 100,000 recreational visitors to share the land with active ranching operations.
- New Mexico (Rio Grande del Norte National Monument): In collaboration with the Friends of the Rio Grande del Norte, virtual fencing supports adaptive grazing, protecting cultural history and wildlife corridors in rugged terrain where physical fences are cost-prohibitive.
- New Mexico (Hidalgo County): A seventh-generation ranching family uses the technology across a 30,000-acre operation to improve drought resilience and rangeland health.
- Wyoming (Muddy Creek Watershed): Partnering with the BLM and Trout Unlimited, virtual fencing keeps livestock out of newly restored riparian zones to protect vital waterways in the Colorado River Basin.
“Virtual fencing has become the newest and most useful tool on our operation, allowing us to adapt grazing in real time across our 30,000 acres,” says Cash and Kanzas Massey of Three Mile Hill LLC, Animas, N.M. “It’s improved efficiency, helped us respond to drought and strengthened the health of the rangeland for the long term. We appreciate the Foundation’s support and the quality and customer service of the Halter team.”
Why Virtual Fencing Matters for BLM
The BLM manages 245 million acres of public land under a multi-use mandate. More than 60% (155 million acres) is available for livestock grazing, supporting approximately 18,000 permits and leases.
According to the press release, Halter and the Foundation plan to expand the partnership to additional projects on BLM-managed public lands over the coming year, continuing to demonstrate how the BLM, ranchers, local communities and technology providers can work together to keep public lands productive, healthy and accessible for generations to come.
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