Improving the Management of Grazing on Federal Lands
With California Ag Today, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.
Two U.S. senators have now introduced bipartisan legislation that they say will support ranchers who rely upon federal lands to graze their livestock.
In a press statement from the duo, Senator Wyden of Oregon and Senator Barrasso of Wyoming, they say that the Operational Flexibility Grazing Management Program Act would improve the management of grazing on federal lands.
Summarized, the Act would:
• Expand a national grazing program at the Bureau of Land Management that will allow for approved grazing permittees to have more flexibility.
• Require the BLM to develop and authorize flexible grazing use alternatives at the request of the grazing permittee or lessee.
• Provide for adjustable pasture rotation dates up to 14 days before and after the specified timeframe to respond to changes in weather, forage production, fire, drought, market conditions, or other temporary conditions.
• Require BLM to establish cooperative monitoring plans and rangeland health objectives to monitor and evaluate the impact of the program in coordination with the permittees.
According to numbers from BallotPedia.com, the federal government owns over 47% of California’s total land, ranking it number three in the nation in federal land ownership.
