PRIVATE STEWARDSHIP OF PUBLIC RESOURCES

GRAZING THAT WORKS

SUBMITTED TO THE BUREAU

Comments on Proposed Revisions to BLM Grazing Regulations

Public lands provide critical benefits to all of us, supporting rural communities and local food, wildlife habitat, recreation, open space, and more. When public land agencies and permittees operate as partners on the landscape, everyone benefits. Grazing regulations that provide flexibility are key to rangeland health, allowing managers and producers to respond to variable conditions like drought, wildfire, and shifting forage availability.

READ OUR LETTER TO THE BLM

ISSUE SUMMARY

Why Federal Grazing Regulations Matter

Common-sense policy for healthy lands, strong communities, and sustainable food

Across the West, ranchers rely on public lands to run viable livestock operations, support wildlife habitat, and steward the open landscapes we all depend on. But outdated federal grazing rules make it harder—not easier—to care for these lands.

At Western Landowners Alliance, we believe that federal grazing regulations should support—not hinder—responsible land stewardship. That means giving land managers the flexibility to respond to changing conditions, using good data to guide decisions, and making the permit system more workable and transparent.

BOTTOM LINE

Federal grazing rules shape the future of the West.

Done right, they can support thriving ranches, healthy wildlife habitat, clean water, and a strong food system. Done wrong, they can push good stewards off the land and leave vital landscapes vulnerable to decline.

Western Landowners Alliance is working to make sure these rules are fair, practical, and grounded in what works on the land.

📘 FAQ: Federal Grazing Regulations

What is public lands grazing?

Public lands grazing is when livestock producers use federal lands—like those managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—to graze their cattle or sheep under a legal permit. These grazing areas often connect to private ranch lands and are critical to ranching operations across the West.

What’s an AUM?

AUM stands for Animal Unit Month—it’s the amount of forage one cow-calf pair needs for one month. The number of AUMs in a grazing permit determines how much grazing is allowed on a public allotment.

What does "flexibility" mean in grazing?

Flexibility means ranchers and land managers can adjust when, where, and how long livestock graze based on current conditions—like drought, wildfire, or forage availability. It allows for better stewardship and more resilient land management.

What is outcome-based grazing?

Outcome-Based Grazing is a modern approach that focuses on meeting shared goals—like improving soil health or wildlife habitat—rather than following rigid calendars or set numbers. It uses regular monitoring to guide decisions and adapt along the way.

Is grazing harmful to public lands?

It depends on how it’s managed. Poor grazing can degrade land—but well-managed grazing can actually improve rangeland health, restore native plants, reduce fire risk, and support wildlife. That’s why WLA supports common-sense, science-backed regulations that guide good stewardship.

STILL WORK TO DO

Ongoing Agency Challenges

Even with clearer direction, agencies still face serious implementation challenges. Staff capacity, federal budget limits and agency disruptions could slow progress on the ground.

WLA will also be watching the next phase closely: changes to Interior’s grazing regulations. These regulatory updates will be critical to ensuring that public lands can support both ecological resilience and productive agriculture over the long term.

Western Landowners Alliance is working to make sure these rules are fair, practical, and grounded in what works on the land.

DOI-USDA Grazing MOU - PDF (1.1mb)

Available Grazing Allotments Web Tool

Details: What's Changing

Federal agencies are taking several steps to improve how grazing is managed on public lands. These changes are aimed at reducing red tape, improving coordination, expanding adaptive management and helping producers respond to changing conditions on the ground. WLA has been pushing for many of these changes for a decade. You can read more about our principles for good grazing governance under "How WLA is Championing Change."

New agreement between the Forest Service and BLM

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding titled Advancing Grazing on Forest Service and BLM Lands. The agreement creates a framework for stronger coordination between the two agencies and addresses several long-standing challenges facing grazing permittees.

The MOU includes priorities WLA has raised, including more flexible grazing tools, expanded use of Good Neighbor Agreements, stronger landowner engagement and reduced administrative barriers under NEPA. WLA is encouraged by these steps, while also noting that conservation and stewardship outcomes must remain central to public land grazing policy.

Expansion of outcome-based grazing

Outcome-based grazing gives producers and public land managers more room to work toward shared goals. Instead of locking every permit into fixed dates, livestock numbers or pasture rotations, this approach allows pre-approved flexibility when conditions change.

That means permittees may be able to adjust grazing timing, livestock numbers or pasture use to respond to drought, forage conditions, wildfire impacts or other real-world changes. The goal is a more adaptive system that supports both rangeland health and economically viable ranching operations.

Expanded Good Neighbor Agreements and shared stewardship

The MOU expands the use of Good Neighbor Agreements and shared stewardship tools to improve public-private partnerships and coordination across agencies. These agreements can help federal and state partners work together on restoration, fuels reduction, timber management and other projects that affect grazing lands.

For example, Idaho has used Good Neighbor Authority to complete timber sales, fuels reduction and restoration projects on national forests used for grazing. Revenue from timber sales can then be reinvested into additional restoration work.

Focus on maintaining grazing capacity

The MOU makes maintaining grazing capacity a priority by seeking to avoid unnecessary reductions in Animal Unit Months, or AUMs. Federal agencies have also launched a beta site showing vacant allotments available for grazing and haying on BLM, Forest Service and National Wildlife Refuge lands.

WLA supports keeping grazing available as an important management tool on public lands. At the same time, this goal should be balanced with land health and the need for flexibility. Some vacant allotments may be best used as reserve capacity, or “grassbank” allotments, to support nearby permittees during drought, wildfire or other disruptions.

Better coordination and communication

The MOU calls for stronger coordination between agencies and permittees. This includes better data sharing, more consistent management across jurisdictions and investment in new tools such as virtual fencing.

These changes can help target grazing more effectively, improve landscape-scale management and support more consistent communication between agencies and producers. The agreement also emphasizes collaboration, including roundtables that can bring local knowledge into decision-making and help build trust.

NEPA process improvements

Federal agencies are also working to streamline NEPA processes and speed up decisions, especially during emergencies such as wildfire. Some of these changes build on Interior’s final NEPA rule and revised handbook.

Interior’s rule moved many NEPA procedures out of federal regulations and into an internal DOI handbook. This could reduce litigation focused only on procedural compliance and put more attention on the actual outcomes of management decisions. At the same time, some stakeholders may see the change as reducing regulatory safeguards, so implementation will matter.

Less redundant environmental review

New agency guidance clarifies when NEPA review is required and when existing analysis can be used. For example, if an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement already covers rangeland improvements, fuels management or targeted grazing, field staff may be able to tier to that analysis or complete a Determination of NEPA Adequacy.

This could reduce duplicative paperwork and help agency staff spend more time in the field. It could also help move beneficial rangeland improvement projects forward more quickly.

Clearer use of categorical exclusions

Agency guidance also clarifies which grazing-related projects may qualify for categorical exclusions, or CEs. These are activities that generally have minimal environmental impact and do not require a full NEPA review.

Examples may include rebuilding fences, adding stock water facilities to existing systems, spot seeding native grasses, using temporary corrals and water troughs, installing above-ground pipelines, maintaining existing infrastructure and creating linear fuel breaks. These actions must still avoid major impacts to wildlife movement, water flow and other resource values.

How WLA Is Championing Change

We’re landowner-led and policy-focused. Here's what we’re pushing for:

Adaptable grazing permits: allow adjustments for timing, season, herd size—based on monitoring and goals.
Timely temporary permits: issue short-term permits quickly when emergencies loom—without relying on lengthy environmental reviews.
Better monitoring: rely on measurable data—sometimes collected by partners or producers—to guide decisions.
Outcome‑based grazing: plans that pivot based on results, not rigid rules. These tools work—when they’re allowed to work.
Easy range improvements: fences, water access, and habitat work should be faster and smoother to permit.

And we’re pushing BLM to build stronger local relationships, boost its staffing, and bring clarity and transparency into grazing decisions.

Are you a federal land grazing permittee with a story to tell?

How were you able to improve stewardship, land health, conservation and your bottom line within existing regulations? How have the current regulations been barriers to improved stewardship or adaptive management? We would love to share your story with the Bureau as we help them update these regulations. Send us a few sentences and we'll be in touch before we do anything with it.

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