Bureau of Land Management

A New Era for the West: Public Lands Rule Repealed as BLM Overhauls Grazing Regs

Tue, 12 May 2026 21:13:28 GMT

In a sweeping move to restore the federal government’s commitment to multiple-use management, the Trump administration Tuesday finalized the rescission of the Biden-era Conservation and Landscape Health Rule (the Public Lands Rule) while simultaneously unveiling a landmark proposal to modernize the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) aging grazing regulations.

According to the Public Lands Council (PLC), individually, these actions are consequential to cattle and sheep producers across the West; together, they are a clear signal of BLM’s commitment to restoring effective multiple-use management and the agency’s investment in promoting strong rangeland resilience.

“From day one, public lands ranchers were clear with the Trump administration: we needed them to remove policies that illegally picked winners and losers in public land management, and we needed them to deliver on their commitment to bring important reforms to the agency’s 35-year-old grazing regulations,” says PLC President and Colorado permittee Tim Canterbury. “Today, they have delivered repeal of the Public Lands Rule that would have resulted in removal of grazing under the guise of ‘conservation’ principles, even though science demonstrates the benefits of our highly managed grazing on these landscapes.”

He adds, “For far too long, BLM has been operating under a set of rules that were developed in response to the ‘cattle free by [19]93’ campaign. The resulting regulations all but ensured ranchers did not have the flexibility to take full advantage of the scientific and management advances that the industry has made over the last 35 years. PLC called on the administration early in their term to incorporate principles of adaptive management into these regulations. Cattle and sheep producers – and the agency line officers they work with – should have the flexibility to make the best possible management decisions for the land, water and permit conditions, unconstrained by antiquated regulations. Today’s announcement is a massive step forward.”

What the Repeal Means for Ranchers

Restoring Multiple-Use: The repeal removes “conservation leases” that critics argued illegally prioritized nonuse over livestock production and energy development.
Wildfire Risk Reduction: Managed grazing is now formally recognized as a primary tool for reducing fuel loads and preventing catastrophic wildfires.
Regulatory Flexibility: Updated regulations provide “adaptive management” power, allowing ranchers to respond to weather and forage changes without waiting for lengthy federal approvals.

What was the Public Land Rule?

According to the Associated Press , the 2024 rule adopted under former President Joe Biden was meant to refocus the BLM, which oversees about 10% of land in the U.S. It allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.

AP reports, “ Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the rule could have blocked access to hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) of land — preventing energy and timber production and hurting ranchers who graze on public lands.”

Supporters argue conservation had long been a secondary consideration at the land bureau, neglecting its mission under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act. While the bureau previously issued leases for conservation purposes in limited cases, it never had a dedicated program prior to the Biden administration.

PLC led industry efforts to repeal the Public Lands Rule since it was initially finalized in 2024, including through congressional resolutions of disapproval and seeking legal remedies for the harm that would have been done to public lands ranchers and the resources they manage.

According to PLC, “Not only was this rule illegal, but it would also have enabled the federal government to remove family owned livestock operations from working lands and increase the risk for catastrophic wildfires by leaving countless acres of rangeland unmanaged.”

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What is the New Grazing MOU?

What is the New Grazing MOU?

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:45:09 GMT

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum have signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to modernize federal grazing management and boost the domestic beef supply. This agreement bridges the gap between the U.S. Forest Service (FS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cut bureaucratic red tape, streamline grazing permits and ensure “no net loss” of grazing capacity for the 20,000 American ranchers across 28 states who graze on federal lands.

FS and the BLM are responsible for a total of 240 million acres of federal rangelands. The two agencies together administer more than 23,000 permits and leases held by ranchers who graze their livestock on approximately 29,000 allotments. About 10% of grazing allotments, or roughly 24 million acres, are not under permit but are targeted as opportunities to allow more grazing on federal lands. The FS collects an average of $6 million annually in grazing fees.

Modernizing the Forest Service and BLM Partnership

According to a USDA press release , the agreement formalizes collaboration between the USDA and the Department of the Interior to ensure more efficient, transparent and responsive management across federal lands. By building on the recently released Grazing Action Plan , the agencies aim to eliminate costly bureaucracy and lower consumer prices.

“Today’s signing sends a clear message: the Trump administration is putting America’s farmers and ranchers first,” Rollins says. “Building on our action plan for American ranchers announced in the fall, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are already delivering.”

Burgum adds the partnership is dedicated to strengthening ranching operations while safeguarding public lands.

“By working closely with American ranchers, we are enhancing communication, investing in innovation and modernizing our approach to land management practices to deliver real results for the people who feed and sustain this country,” he says.

A “No Net Loss” Mandate for Animal Unit Months (AUMs)

A central pillar of the MOU is the commitment to maintaining grazing capacity wherever possible. The agreement affirms a goal of “no net loss” of animal unit months (AUMs) within allotments.

To support this, federal agencies will look to expand practical land management tools, including the reopening of vacant allotments. Currently, about 10% of grazing allotments — roughly 24 million acres — are not under permit and represent a significant opportunity to increase domestic beef production.

For generations, ranchers have played a vital role in feeding the nation, supporting rural economies and stewarding public lands. The MOU recognizes permittees as essential partners and directs federal agencies to engage directly with those who live and work on the land.

Bridging the Gap Between Agencies and Producers

To foster a deeper understanding of the industry, the MOU introduces “Ranch Immersion” programs for federal employees. These initiatives will place agency staff on working ranches to build firsthand knowledge of operational challenges. Additionally, the agreement focuses on:

Structured Engagement: Expanding collaboration through learning roundtables.
Data Access: Improving data systems to make allotment information more predictable for producers.
Streamlined Permitting: Reducing delays for infrastructure improvements and permit renewals.

Wildfire Response: New Liaisons for Grazing Permittees

Recognizing the constant threat of wildfire to Western rangelands, the MOU establishes grazing permittee wildfire liaisons. These liaisons will ensure ranchers have a direct point of contact and a voice during both wildfire response and recovery efforts. Furthermore, the agreement promotes the use of targeted grazing as a tool to reduce fuel loads and mitigate wildfire risk, alongside the adoption of innovative technologies like virtual fencing.

According to the USDA press release , the agreement supports not only producers, but also American families by strengthening the domestic food supply chain. By lowering costs and improving efficiency for ranchers, the initiative helps keep food affordable and reduces reliance on foreign imports.

“Today’s signing marks an important step forward in modernizing federal grazing management and reflects a broader commitment to rural prosperity by fortifying the American beef industry as directed by President Trump’s order Ensuring Affordable Beef for the American Consumer ,” the release says.

Ranchers Called, Agencies Answered

Public lands ranchers joined Secretaries Rollins and Burgum as they signed the MOU to launch their Grazing Action Plan.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) leaders and members then participated in a roundtable discussing cooperative work to address longstanding challenges for federal lands grazing permittees. PLC President Tim Canterbury, PLC Past President Mark Roeber and Industry Issues Committee Chairman Nate Thomson were joined by NCBA President-elect Kim Brackett, American National CattleWomen (ANCW) Past President Nikki Weston, Washington ranchers Stephanie and Nick Martinez, Arizona permittee Dan Bell, and Colorado rancher Nancy Roberts in raising critical ranching issues to be addressed.

“Public lands ranchers are resilient by nature, but we still need significant relief from the burdensome federal regulations that make it harder to do our jobs every day. This MOU will make it easier to ranch on public lands and will help improve the health of western landscapes,” Canterbury says. “By speeding up the permitting process and expanding the use of targeted grazing, the federal government is ensuring that more ranchers will keep ranching and that rangelands will face less degradation and destruction from wildfires and mismanagement.”

This plan focuses on boosting rancher resiliency by assessing vacant allotments, unifying permitting frameworks between agencies, expanding the use of targeting grazing to prevent wildfires, and establishing a rancher liaison program for wildfire incident command centers.

“When you raise cattle on federal lands, it requires a great deal of work to sort through the government red tape. This plan will cut bureaucracy by streamlining the permitting process, expanding grazing access, and optimizing targeted grazing in areas that are the most vulnerable to wildfires,” Brackett explains. “This MOU will provide much needed regulatory relief to ranchers and make it easier for us to carry out the voluntary conservation essential to maintaining these working lands.”

Your Next Read:
Beef Producers React to USDA’s Plan to Fortify Industry and Trump’s Social Media Comments

A Seat at the Table: How Robbie LeValley Bridges the Gap Between Science and Stewardship

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:34:16 GMT

As the world recognizes 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF), U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) is turning the spotlight on the women shaping agriculture every day here in the U.S. From innovative land management strategies to raising livestock with care and precision, women are vital contributors to our food systems and communities.

From Wyoming Roots to Colorado Stewardship

A fourth-generation rancher, Robbie LeValley is a passionate advocate for public lands and sustainable beef production.

LeValley operates a diversified cow-calf operation in western Colorado, where her work reflects a deep commitment to stewardship and the long-term viability of both land and livestock. Her story reflects resilience and a strong belief that agriculture can, and must, balance productivity with environmental care.

LeValley’s connection to ranching began in northwest Wyoming, where she grew up on a cow-calf operation south of Cody. From an early age, she experienced firsthand the realities of working lands that blended private acreage with federal grazing allotments, a model that continues to shape her approach today.

After attending junior college, she transferred to Colorado State University, where she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal science. Shortly after, in 1989, a career opportunity in livestock extension enabled her to remain in Colorado, the same year she became part of the LeValley Ranch through marriage.

Since then, LeValley has helped build and sustain a multigenerational operation alongside her family, blending tradition with innovation to ensure the ranch’s long-term success.

(Photo Provided By Robbie LeValley)

The “Power of And": Balancing Production and Conservation

Today, the LeValley Ranch is a diverse and dynamic operation. In addition to running a cow-calf herd, the ranch integrates multiple business components, including grazing management across public and private lands, a USDA-inspected processing facility, retail beef sales, and recreational opportunities.

Central to LeValley’s work is a commitment to conservation and land stewardship. Through years of rangeland monitoring, she has helped document improvements in both vegetation and overall ecosystem function. Her science-based approach allows her to demonstrate that well-managed grazing can support both livestock production and wildlife habitat.

“It’s not about choosing one or the other,” LeValley explains. “It’s about the ‘and.’ It’s about livestock and wildlife, production and conservation.”

This philosophy has not only guided the ranch’s management decisions but has also positioned it for collaboration. LeValley regularly welcomes producers, policymakers, environmental groups and members of the public onto the ranch to see the science in action and the outcomes firsthand.

In 2023, the LeValley Ranch was recognized with the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award, honoring its dedication to sustainable land management and environmental stewardship.

(Photo Provided By Robbie LeValley)

Data-Driven Decisions: Grazing as the Solution

Beyond the ranch, LeValley’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to education and service.

From 1989 to 2012, she served as a Tri River Area extension agent, working directly with producers and communities to strengthen agricultural practices and outreach. Today, she continues to support research and innovation through her involvement in agricultural and meat science initiatives.

Her background in science plays a critical role in how she approaches ranching. By collecting and interpreting data on rangeland conditions, LeValley is able to make informed decisions and communicate the positive impacts of well-managed grazing systems.

That ability has proven especially important in conversations around public lands, where misconceptions about agriculture can persist.

“Too often, grazing is seen as the problem,” she says. “But when you have the data, you can show it’s part of the solution.”

Advocacy in Action: Ensuring the Producer’s Voice is Heard

LeValley’s influence extends across the beef industry through her involvement in numerous organizations at the local, state and national levels. She has dedicated countless hours to ensuring that the voice of producers is represented in policy discussions and industry initiatives.

Her leadership roles include past service with the Public Lands Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Society for Range Management and Colorado Beef Council.

For LeValley, this involvement is not optional; it is essential.

“If we’re not at the table, we don’t have a voice,” she explains. “The infrastructure, policies and opportunities we have today exist because previous generations stepped up. It’s our responsibility to do the same.”

Her commitment to collaboration is also evident in her mentorship of the next generation. Whether working with young producers or early-career ranchers, she emphasizes the importance of strong relationships and thoughtful decision-making.

(Photo Provided By Robbie LeValley)

Leading in Action

As a woman in agriculture, LeValley has witnessed both challenges and progress throughout her career. Her perspective is grounded not in titles or recognition, but in action.

“Leadership doesn’t always mean being out front,” she says. “Sometimes it means supporting others, and that’s just as important.”

She hopes young women entering agriculture will see that leadership is demonstrated through daily work and integrity, not just words.

Her advice is simple but powerful:

Work hard.
Build relationships.
Find mentors.
Lead by example.

“Work hard in silence,” she adds. “Let success make the noise.”

Continuing the Story

LeValley’s impact reaches far beyond her own operation. She is helping shape the future of ranching and the role of women in agriculture.

Her work demonstrates that stewardship and productivity are not opposing goals; they are interconnected. By embracing both, she is advancing the beef industry and ensuring its resilience for years to come.

As the International Year of the Woman Farmer continues, stories like LeValley’s highlight the leadership of women across agriculture.
They remind us that ranching is more than a livelihood; it is a legacy shaped by care for the land and a strong sense of purpose for the future.

Learn more about sustainable beef and producer leadership by visiting U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and Public Lands Council websites.

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California Ranchers Facing $1.50/Acre Water Assessment

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:16:41 GMT

Environmental preservation continues to take precedence over agricultural sustainability in California. Water rights and assessments are issues California farmers and ranchers are being challenged with today.

Jack Lavers, a California rancher, explains through the years there has been a shift in water allocation since environmental concerns became a factor around the 1970s. He discussed the water issues, as well as other challenges facing California ranchers, on AgriTalk with Chip Flory.

Original state and federal water projects moved water from Northern to Southern California. These enabled agricultural expansion in the Central Valley and initially satisfied farmers and urban populations. According to Lavers, farmers only get 25% of the water today while environmental groups receive approximately half.

“They give half the water now to the environmental groups, and the other half is then split between the farms and the people — and that really becomes the issue,” he says. “Now we have this big push happening because they want to bring back fish to these rivers, and so we’re actually removing dams, and that is a very, very big issue.”

Removing the dams will eliminate irrigation.

“You’re going to see a lot of this ground that’s been irrigated for 100 years disappear — and have no value — so we can have some fish,” he explains.

New Assessment

Lavers says one of the new challenges facing agriculture today in California is a new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) assessment.

“This is actually assessed on all rural ground — they call them the white areas,” Lavers explains. “This stems from the SGMA, which is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, that our state passed, which is just insane in itself, but they assessed $1.50 per acre assessment on your ground.”

He says they have justified the assessment because, “these guys are pulling all this water out of the ground to farm.”

He adds, “They didn’t just do it on the farmers. They did it on livestock guys that are grazing ground. Well, that adds up really quickly. If you have a 2,000-acre ranch where you’re grazing your cattle now, you’re paying an extra $2,000 a year. Right now, that’s one of your steers is gone right there off the top, just to pay for an assessment that you don’t even use.”

Wildfires Affect Grazing Land

Lavers also discussed how wildfires continue to pose significant threats to California ranching. He says the Gifford fire is causing significant damage to ranchers, burning more than 122,000 acres and forcing some ranchers to lose everything.

As the cattle producers face reduced grazing lands due to the fires, he says progress has been made working with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management opening up grazing allotments that they have closed in the past. They are also working with California Department of Fish and Wildlife to allow grazing on ground it had purchased.

“We’re having a little bit of success with that, so we’re making progress,” he summarizes.

To learn more about the challenges facing California ranchers and farmers today, be sure to listen to the full conversation between Flory and Lavers. From devastating wildfires and water allocation issues to regulatory pressures and environmental constraints, the California agricultural community continues to demonstrate resilience and adaptability.

The Realities of Ranching on the Range

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:11:48 GMT

Restoring dormant land to become a productive cattle operation began 11 years ago for first-generation, southern California rancher, John Austel. He operates 4J Horse and Livestock Co. with his family, and has used targeted grazing to clean up the 10,000-acre property, which used to be a Spanish land grant. After being used as a large-scale farming and ranching operation for many years, the property changed ownership several times before selling to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and it was designated as the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve. The property, located in San Diego County, remained fallow for 25 years and burned twice during area wildfires in 2003 and 2007 before Austel began leasing it, restoring habitat and using cattle to mitigate wildfires.

“Targeted grazing, adaptive management, or prescribed grazing is a way to get these properties back into play, or at least get them managed,” Austel says. “A lot of grazing there was prime grazing that was not just good for livestock, but deer and other wildlife. A good percentage of it would turn into weeds after the wildfires.”

The Austel family have been raising cattle in San Diego county since 2014.

(John Austel)

Austel began setting up a rotational grazing program.

“I don’t know if I’ll get 3" of rain, 6.5" of rain, or 25" of rain, which is the reality of ranching on rangelands,” he says. “This process of rest and rotation lets me adapt to what the range needs and still manage the condition of my cows.”

With the backing of Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Austel restored the ranch infrastructure, which had burned along with the power lines to the wells. He replaced electric wells with solar wells using NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding. They broke the part of the property they currently graze into 24 different paddocks ranging from 40 to 700 acres, depending on the resource concerns they have.

“There’s a lot of terminology out there; targeted grazing is one of them,” Austel says. “I like to call it adaptive management. We’re adapting to whatever is on that particular property or resource concern.”

Using grazing to mitigate wildfires

Wildfires cost billions of dollars each year in suppression efforts and damage to property and economies. Austel would rather focus on proactive wildfire fuel reduction through grazing.

“It’s not that a paddock won’t catch fire,” he says. “It could catch fire still, but the flames are going to be four or five inches tall versus having standing dry vegetation that’s 2' to 3' tall and built up year after year after year. The flames will be 6' to 12' high. That’s been documented. The intensity of the wildfire is substantially different.”

It’s a win-win for everyone.

“The financial benefit comes for not just myself as a producer, but for my community, my county and my state from a safety and financial standpoint,” Austel says.

The Austel family set up a specific wildfire fuel removal grazing plan after almost getting burnt out in the Gate Fire in 2017.

“We had put in all this infrastructure and water sources, and I’m just watching this fire come right towards us, and it’s going to wipe us out,” he says. “We can’t just sit here and not do anything.”

The fire burned up to the two-lane road next to the ranch, and firefighters were able to put it out with hoses as that point, sparing the property. Afterward, Austel went to the captain and the local unit of CAL Fire at the time, and came up with a plan to graze around the wildfire prone areas.

San Diego county rancher, John Austel, estimated the removal of 137,500 lb. of wildfire fuel in 30 days before rotating to another field to do the same job for the wildfire fuel removal grazing plan. H braces the Grazing Exclusion Containment Area for biologists to study.

(John Austel)

“The areas that we graze in our priority area are just below million-dollar homes that are up on a hill,” Austel says. “Those people are elated that we’re there.”

Cattle are moved in for 30 days, and very little wildfire fuel is left, then the herd moves to another paddock.

“Sometimes we’re on horseback, cowboying the Western way, and we like that,” Austel says. “We love that lifestyle. Sometimes we just open a gate and call them, and they just come from one paddock to another.”

The efforts have been successful.

“Targeted grazing is an effective way of seriously removing a lot of wildfire fuel on a large landscape basis,” Austel says. “You’ve got the big girls coming in eating 25 lb. to 30 lb. a day of dry matter, and they will clean up something very, very quickly if you have it in a targeted area.”

Your next read: Wildfire Management: The Day You Plan For, But Hope You Don’t Experience

Vence: Innovative Grazing Solutions Post-Wildfire

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 14:31:34 GMT

Like many ranchers in the West, the Thompson family manages cattle on large Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allotments of public land. Located in southwest Idaho, they experienced two wildfires within 10 days of each other in the summer of 2024, which burned approximately half of the fields used for winter grazing. Jessie Jarvis and her husband, Justin, ranch with her folks, Allen and Kim Thompson. Jessie worked with their local field office to utilize Vence virtual fencing to allow grazing on part of their allotment.

“Because we have BLM permits, putting a traditional five-wire fence wasn’t an option and due to the landscape, temporary fencing doesn’t make sense,” Jarvis says. “We were left with trying to find another place to run cows or feed them hay and supplement through winter. The cost of feeding the amount of cows we collared would have been about $26,000, so it’s far more financially friendly for us to use Vence than it is than any of our other options.”

This technology also allowed Jarvis to keep the cows in locations they were already familiar with.

“Virtual fencing allowed us to run our cattle in two fields they already know and do really well, which was a lot easier than putting them in a completely different field,” Jarvis says.

When it comes to fires on public lands, the BLM has two weeks from the date of containment to put together a fire recovery plan.

“The BLM office was under the clock to make decisions about the recovery and whether it will be seeded or it won’t be seeded, if it can be used, and how all that works,” Jarvis says. “We had less than two weeks to make our decision and how we were going to operate.”

The family worked with their local field office in Twin Falls, and the Shoshone office to borrow a base station, which had been used for a previous virtual fencing project. They purchased the collars and batteries themselves.

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Installing batteries and preparing collars to use for virtual fencing.

Jessie Jarvis

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Easy-to-install collars are adjustable to fit each cow.

Jessie Jarvis

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The Jarvis family uses virtual fencing collars and a base station on their BLM allotment to keep cows off area burned in wildfire.

Jessie Jarvis

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The base station would be moved three times within the allotment to communicate based on where the cows were located.

Jessie Jarvis

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Computer software shows where the virtual fencelines were and the movement of cattle throughout the boundaries.

Jessie Jarvis

Jarvis admits the first two weeks were a big learning curve as they had to work with Vence to determine where the base station would be located in relationship to the cows.

“We are moving the cows three different times, so there will be three different base station locations and they had to be predetermined so we knew we had the right amount of coverage for grazing that area,” Jarvis says.

All this took place during the fall and one of the busiest times when the family was gathering, weaning, processing different sets of calves, and preg testing. While learning new technology on top of all the fall work was a little overwhelming, Jarvis explains it was completely worth the extra effort.

“I think for us and other ranchers in our situation, being able to use this tool and continue grazing after a fire has such a positive impact,” Jarvis says. “I look around at all the fires that happened last summer, and I know how many people have had to liquidate their herds or completely sell out, and that breaks my heart. It takes so much time, energy and effort into building the genetics that are in your cow herd, and to have to completely get rid of that, that is life changing for all of us. We probably would have been faced with some of those very same difficult decisions had we not had this technology available to use.”

Vence Success Manager, CK Wisniewski, joined the Jarvis’ to help collar cattle and set up the system. She says every ranch has different goals for using virtual fencing.

“Some ranchers are wanting to track their cows more easily even within interior fencing,” she says. “Barbed wire fence is not fun to build, especially if you’re in very tough terrain. Sometimes that fencing cost can be $15,000-$50,000 a mile. When you have all those wildfires that are happening and it’s eight miles of fence, rebuilding is too labor and cost prohibitive. There are lots of different types of stakeholders who are always wanting to get engaged with our Vence system.”

Gary Tiller, director or commercial operations with Vence, which is a U.S.-based company owned by Merck Animal Health, says Vence focuses on three pillars — profitability, sustainability and legacy.

“Your first consideration is going to be, ‘how do I intend to make money using this technology?’” Tiller says. “That could be improved stocking density, saving on replacement or maintenance costs for fencing or replacing the cost of an employee to move fence.”

Tiller also notes what’s unique about virtual fencing is the ability to utilize ancillary benefits, which provide support to the main purpose of the operation.

“Ranching properties can also utilize wildlife habitat,” Tiller says. “For example, if fishing is an income stream to the ranch and protecting your stream sides is something that will make you more money in the end, you can exclude those cattle from going into the water and eroding the bank, which can improve your fishing population. That’s an ancillary profit center.”

Tiller points out, the second pillar — sustainability — can have multiple definitions.

“As a ranching community, we recognize wildfires aren’t going away,” he says. “When you look at the western states with a majority of ranchers relying on public lands grazing, if you don’t have fencing or funding to rebuild fences and you can’t keep cattle contained and manage the landscape, will we even have access to that land?

“It’s not only sustainability of the resource, but also of our industry,” Tiller adds. “We can’t lose 50% of our rangelands and still have 28-29 million cows needing to graze.”

Legacy is the third pillar that virtual fencing provides.

“Most everybody on the ranch has a dream of passing it down to the next generation and the only way we’re going to have the right to operate is by being really good stewards and making sure that the public understands how we are taking care of the land,” Tiller says. “I think most ranchers in general, prefer to pass on land at a better state than they inherit.”

Vence was designed for big remote areas to incorporate LoRa (long-range communication) through a system of base stations and collars that work autonomously once the directions are set. They utilize a high-density lithium battery mill spec battery designed to operate in the worse conditions, from hot and humid in Florida to below freezing in Montana.

“We designed a robust system around cattle and rugged conditions and landscapes with very minimal communications that we can magnify,” Tiller says.

The concept of virtual fencing technology has been around for decades but continues to evolve. Virtual fencing uses behavior modification based on audio and electrical cues from a collar device to keep cattle within a virtual boundary using GPS. This geospatial technology uses satellites to pinpoint a location. A virtual fence can also be used to keep animals out of certain areas. The collar can be controlled by a phone, tablet or computer using cellular data.

This is part of a four-part Smart Farming series on virtual fencing companies available in the U.S. — eShepard , Halter, NoFence and Vence .

(FJ/UA)

Public Lands Council To Congress: Federal Wild Horse Control Critical

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 18:04:37 GMT

The current system of managing wild horses and burros on public lands “has been crippled to the point of catastrophic failure” and Congress needs to step in to improve the system “to the benefit of all wildlife, rangelands, and the multiple uses of those rangelands,” according to Ethan Lane of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC). Lane testified on behalf of NCBA, PLC and the National Horse and Burro Rangeland Management Coalition at a hearing held by the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining on July 16.

During his testimony, Lane identified several problematic situations happening on West’s public lands: while the rangeland can only support about 26,000 wild horses and burros, more than 88,000 currently roam across 10 Western states as of March 2019, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM.) Even more concerning is that on-range populations are doubling every four to five years, with a population of approximately 366,000 on-range horses and burros likely by 2028.

“Excessive populations deplete scarce food and water resources on the arid rangelands, leading to starvation and dehydration of the horses and burros,” Lane testified. “Maintaining the status quo places our public lands - and all animals and multiple-use activities that rely on those rangelands - at risk.”

In addition to laying out a variety of specific ways that wild horse and burro populations could be brought under control, Lane also endorsed and submitted for the record a compromise proposal that has been agreed to by stakeholders across the political spectrum - from ranchers to municipalities to national humane advocacy groups.

“The management recommendations set forth are the product of extensive negotiation, debate, and compromise amongst groups with wildly disparate views on this issue,” Lane pointed out. “Such compromise between political opponents is a rarity in the modern political arena, and I would urge the Committee to look closely at what we have managed to accomplish through good-faith collaboration.”

Click here to view Lane’s full written testimony , and click here to view the compromise proposal, entitled The Path Forward for Management of BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros.

Additional coverage from Drovers:

Wayne Pacelle: Deep Dive into Flawed Wild Horse Federal Removal Plan

Some Horse Advocates Buck at New Plan to Save Wild Mustangs

BLM Offers Wild Horse Adoption Incentive

Wanted: More Pastures for West’s Overpopulated Wild Horses

Judge Limits Hammond’s Grazing As Case Proceeds

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:50:03 GMT

A U.S. District Judge on Tuesday limited Hammond Ranches from fully utilizing its grazing permits. In a 58-page ruling, Judge Michael H. Simon granted a partial preliminary injunction, approving an alternative grazing plan for the Hammond’s cattle that the Bureau of Land Management had proposed in June.

Three environmental advocacy groups – Western Watersheds Project, the Center for Biological Diversity and Wildearth Guardians – sued the Interior secretary and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management after the government in January renewed a 10-year grazing permit for Hammond Ranches. The groups argued that Zinke violated federal regulations because the government failed to consider the Hammonds’ unsatisfactory record or do proper environmental reviews.

The renewal of the Hammonds’ 2014 grazing permit followed President Donald Trump’s pardon of the Hammonds last summer. Dwight Hammond Jr. and his youngest son, Steven Hammond, convicted of arson, were serving out five-year mandatory minimum sentences for setting fire to public land where they had grazing rights.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Simon ordered no grazing on one parcel called Mud Creek, but allowed for cattle to “quickly and methodically trail through” the allotment to access the federal Hardie Summer allotment. Further, Simon reduced grazing on the Hardie parcel to 30% of the normal standard in the ranches permit. No further grazing was allowed beyond those restrictions.

In his ruling, Judge Simon wrote such restrictions will reduce harm to sage grouse by eliminating nearly all grazing on the Mud Creek allotment and significantly reducing grazing on the Hardie Summer allotment, and will lessen the harms to redband trout by eliminating grazing on a portion of what’s called Little Fir Creek. He said the environmental groups had shown a likelihood of succeeding in proving that former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s order for the government to reissue a 10-year grazing permit to the Hammonds this year “was arbitrary and capricious’’ and unlawful.

Nalivka: The Intersection Of Coincidence And Skepticism

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:48:03 GMT

Related events sometimes occur simply as a result of coincidence. However, I am skeptical this was the situation when on June 5, 2019, a U.S. District judge issued a 28-day temporary restraining order that will stop Steven and Dwight Hammond from using their federal grazing permit near their ranch in Diamond, Oregon. Ironically, June 5 was also the day designated by the United Nations as World Environmental Day. I tend to view most actions by the United Nations to be questionable anyway.

The lawsuit against the Hammonds which led to the judge’s TRO ruling was filed by Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity, and Wildearth Guardians - three activist environmental groups whose goal is to stop all cattle grazing on Federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.

The Hammond’s story is well-known and I don’t need to repeat it, but rather to simply say that I didn’t agree with their treatment in the courts and neither did President Trump. He pardoned them and shortly afterward, former Secretary of Interior Zinke ordered the BLM to reinstate their grazing license.

Grazing licenses are issued for a 10-year period with a designated number of cattle for a designated grazing period and can be temporarily amended according to resource conditions. In the western U.S. many, if not most, ranches depend upon grazing on federal lands which comprise significant portions of western states. Many of these western U.S. ranches hold BLM grazing permits dating back to the establishment of the BLM in 1946. Federal lands grazing is not only an important component of these ranches’ ability to operate, accounting for a significant share of their total grazing resource, it is an important and necessary tool to reduce the incidence and destruction of wildfires.

Perhaps the judge’s temporary restraining order and the designation of World Environmental Day is not as ironic as I am suggesting, but rather nothing more than sheer coincidence. I am skeptical. After nearly 40 years of observing and testifying as an expert in court for ranchers fighting to save their permits and their livelihoods against lawsuits filed by environmental groups, I am skeptical - period. I don’t know the Hammonds personally, but I stand with them in the fight for their Federal grazing permit and the freedom to operate their ranch within the bounds of that permit.

Related stories:

Judge Blocks Hammond’s Grazing Permits

Animal Activists Protest Wild Horse Management Meeting

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:20:58 GMT

Swollen populations of federally-protected wild horses roaming 10 Western states are starved and damaging rangelands, Utah and U.S. government officials said at conference Wednesday, an invitation-only meeting that mustang-protection advocates say is promoting the slaughter of an icon of the American West.

Members of Utah’s congressional delegation and a U.S. Interior Department official speaking at the National Horse and Burro Summit in Salt Lake City all described an unsustainable population of wild horses that’s nearly three times the size that federal officials think the rangeland can support.

Horse-protection groups who weren’t allowed into the Utah State University-hosted event protested outside the downtown hotel where it was held, calling at “slaughter summit” that’s kowtowing to livestock interests to promote increased roundups and slaughter of wild horse from California to Colorado without public input.

“It’s a collection of politicians and lobbyists for the agriculture industry and the sole purpose is to advance their agenda of slaughtering America’s wild horses,” said Suzanne Roy with the American Wild Horse Campaign.

Terry Messmer, a wildland resources professor at Utah State, defended the conference lineup he said was organized by “a broad coalition of horse advocates - not activist groups, but people who are concerned about the welfare of horses and western rangeland management.”

The meeting comes a week after congressional auditors identified countless hurdles but no solutions to populations of wild horses and burros, including an ever-increasing backlog of captured mustangs already in government corrals costing taxpayers $50 million annually.

A report by Congress’ General Accounting Office made public last week noted that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management removed nearly 135,000 horses from the range between 2000 and 2016 but the population on the range doubled and the number of horses in holding facilities increased seven-fold.

The BLM asserts that U.S. rangeland can sustain fewer than 27,000 horses and burros, but there are more than 72,000 wild horses on the rangeland and about 46,000 in holding facilities.

Many horse protection advocates say contraception is the only realistic and humane solution to limit horse populations they feel have more right to roam the range than federally subsidized livestock.

Inside the summit, speakers on Wednesday said it’s cruel to allow unchecked populations of wild horses and burros to starve and compete with other animals for scarce resources.

“There is nothing humane or majestic to see a wild horse starving to death or a wild burro dying of thirst,” said Aurelia Skipwith, deputy assistant U.S. Interior Secretary for fish and wildlife and national parks.

Skipwith said the first major solution is for Congress to pass President Donald Trump’s budget request that includes language allowing wild horses to be sold without the requirement that buyers guarantee the animals won’t be resold for slaughter.

Skipwith said the ability to sell horses “without limitation,” along with euthanizing horses and burros, is the “most humane way to address the issue.”

Horse slaughterhouses are prohibited in the U.S. but legal in many other countries, including Canada, Mexico and parts of Europe where horse meat is considered a delicacy.

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, spoke of his efforts in Congress to try to allow states to manage the animals and his amendment to a budget bill that allows horses to be euthanized.

Stewart said he sees horses as companions, like dogs, and would never eat a horse or propose they be slaughtered for food.

“That’s not what we’re trying to do here,” Stewart said. “That’s not the solution, but it may include something similar to that.”

A message asking his office to clarify his comments was not returned.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah took the stage holding a children’s toy horse stick and cracked a joke about riding a horse to work as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has done in the streets of Washington.

Bishop, who chairs the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, said that despite his holding a toy, the summit was addressing a serious issue that many across the country and in Congress don’t understand the issue because they’ve been swayed by activists “who care more about fundraising opportunities than the animals. “

“There are members of Congress who truly believe that every horse is Seabiscuit. Of course, the French think every horse should be Sea-Brisket,” he joked.

Utah is spending up to $50,000 from money set aside for horse and burro programs to co-sponsor the summit. Utah Department of Natural Resources Director Mike Styler said Wednesday that the state is paying to record the summit and the recordings will be posted online in a few days.

Grazing Improvement Act Passes U.S. House of Representatives

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:15:01 GMT

The Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association applaud passage of the Grazing Improvement Act by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Grazing Improvement Act was passed with a vote of 220 to 194 earlier today as part of a larger package, the Public Access and Land Improvement Act, H.R. 2954. Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) should be commended for leading the effort on behalf of the livestock industry in the west for moving this important legislation through the House.

The bill would improve the livestock grazing permitting process on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. The bill was debated during the last session of Congress in both the House and Senate; it passed the House with bipartisan support as part of the Conservation and Economic Growth Act (H.R. 2578).

PLC President Brice Lee, rancher from Hesperus, Colo., expressed PLC’s strong support for the bill, adding that the uncertainty surrounding grazing permit renewals is threatening the ability of federal lands ranchers to keep their businesses operating.

“This legislation will contribute greatly to providing a stable business environment to federal lands ranchers, who face ever-increasing uncertainty as to the future of our livestock grazing permits,” said Lee. “By increasing the term of grazing permits from 10 to 20 years, ranchers will have certainty that their operations will remain in business and continue to operate without the fear of losing their permits on process-based grounds.”

The bill includes two amendments passed by the House today and supported by PLC and NCBA. The first, offered by Rep. Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Labrador, added language which would allow the Secretary to consolidate environmental reviews, while clarifying the definition of current grazing management, and ensuring a timely response for temporary trailing and crossing applications. The second amendment, offered by Rep. Labrador, requires the non-prevailing, not directly-affected party in a challenge to the Secretary’s final grazing decision to pay the directly-affected prevailing party incurred fees and expenses and clarifies the definition of a directly-affected party.

NCBA President Scott George, a dairy and beef producer from Wyoming, said that the bill is commonsense legislation which will provide security for livestock producers that operate on public lands while the BLM and USFS work through the backlog of permits renewals and environmental analysis.

“Cattlemen face growing uncertainty regarding grazing permits,” George said. “Many are at risk of losing their operations because of a backlog in the regulatory process, which is largely caused by extremist environmental groups, who frequently file lawsuits on minor paperwork issues in an attempt to put ranchers out of business. The language added today regarding payment of legal fees would go a long way in reducing the endless stream of lawsuits aimed at removing livestock from federal lands.”

Lee and George stated that the Grazing Improvement Act is important for our western ranchers and said as a way of life in rural America, ranching is a vital contributor of jobs and economic stability in many communities.

S"Our ranchers are the original stewards of the land,” said Lee. “Their continued success holds great implications for the landscapes and rural economies of the West. Communities that depend on the continued presence of federal lands ranchers are already experiencing the hardships that accompany the loss of grazing permits. This legislation is of great importance America’s agricultural economy and we urge the Senate to take up this bill and pass it without delay.”

Source: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association