Today, the Trump administration announced a final rule to rescind the ill-advised Biden-era Conservation and Landscape Health rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule, alongside a landmark proposed rule to reform the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) grazing regulations. 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. The Public Lands Council (PLC) thanks Secretary Burgum and applauds these important steps.
“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. 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,” said PLC President and Colorado permittee Tim Canterbury.
“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.” said Canterbury.
Public Lands Rule Background
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. 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.
Grazing Regulations Background
PLC has long led industry efforts to improve flexibility in grazing policy that would allow land managers and livestock producers to make decisions year-to-year that fully incorporated needs of the land, livestock, and multiple-use requirements. PLC submitted comprehensive comments during the 2020 scoping period and continued advocacy in the intervening years to improve BLM guidance documents and on-the-ground administration but was limited by outdated and exceedingly rigid regulations. Updated regulations will improve public land administration and allow the agency to benefit from the full power of wildfire risk reduction, food and fiber production, and protection of biodiversity that comes from livestock grazing expertise.
