WASHINGTON, DC –U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) recently introduced legislation that provides greater certainty and stability to the livestock grazing community in the face of constant environmental legal challenges. 

The Grazing Improvement Act of 2011 (S. 1129) helps ranching communities by preserving the use of livestock grazing permits.  It allows the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service to continue issuing grazing permits while required environmental analysis is pending. 
“Livestock grazing on public lands has a strong tradition in Wyoming and in the West,” said Barrasso.  “Ranchers are proud stewards of the land, yet extreme environmentalists have hijacked the permitting process with endless lawsuits aimed at eliminating livestock from public lands.  These irresponsible tactics overwhelm permitting agencies and leaves ranchers at risk of losing their grazing permits.  My bill gives ranching communities the certainty and stability they desperately need.”

The Grazing Improvement Act is co-sponsored by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dean Heller (R-NV), James Risch (R-ID) and John Thune (R-SD).

Background:

Under current law, livestock grazing permits are valid for 10 years.  After 10 years, new environmental analysis is required before a permit can be renewed.  

However, agencies cannot complete the required environmental analysis due to the backlog of lawsuits filed by environmentalists intended to delay the permitting process.  For over a decade, grazing permit holders and public land agencies have relied on Congress to temporarily grant continued use of grazing permits every year.

The Grazing Improvement Act fixes this by allowing the BLM and Forest Service to continue issuing grazing permits while an environmental analysis is being completed.  It also provides more flexibility with categorical exclusions and other needed reforms to grazing permits. 

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