Ag and Energy Groups File Lawsuit Challenging New BLM Public Lands Rule

Touted as ‘conservation’ these policies have proven harmful to wildlife and habitat, and disastrous to our precious ranching culture, as often explained on this blog.

NOTE: this article was originally published to WesternAgNetwork.comon July 15, 2024.

A coalition of agricultural and industry groups, led by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Public Lands Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) new Public Lands Rule.

The rule, issued in May, aims to increase the health and resilience of public lands but has been criticized for its lack of clarity and unauthorized policy changes. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, challenges the rule’s lawfulness, arguing it destabilizes the longstanding tradition of grazing on federal lands and threatens the future of ranching in the U.S.

Gary Heibertshausen, a sheep rancher in Montana and Farm Bureau member, says access to public lands for livestock grazing is crucial to the success of his ranch. “If Willow Creek Partners could not graze its livestock on federal land, we would be forced to sell our sheep and cease operating as a ranch.”

Heibertshausen and his partners hold six grazing permits covering several thousand acres of federal lands. He is supporting the case, saying the BLM rule creates substantial risk and uncertainty for ranchers, adding, “Under the rule, we can no longer be certain that the public lands on which we currently rely for grazing will remain available for grazing over the coming years.”

AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “Further restricting grazing on public lands takes us backward not forward because ranchers are delivering a return on the trust placed in them to care for public lands. They are clearing brush that could fuel wildfires, controlling invasive species, and bringing overall health benefits to the land.”

The benefits of grazing range from reducing wildfire risk and slowing the spread of invasive weeds to building robust root systems and spurring forage growth for native species. The misguided Public Lands Rule threatens the important balance our country has achieved on public lands, as well as the future stability of the many ranches that depend on grazing permits.

BLM oversees approximately 245 million acres of property in the West, which amounts to one-tenth of all U.S. land. For nearly a century, farmers and ranchers have worked with the federal government to ensure Western land can be used for both public enjoyment and agricultural use. So the rule’s changes to the management of public lands have broad implications for agriculture and the future for America’s ranchers.

NCBA President Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher, criticized the rule for upsetting the multiple-use system mandated by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which includes livestock grazing, energy, mining, timber, and recreation. PLC President Mark Roeber added that the rule jeopardizes the relationship between federal grazing permittees and the BLM and could lead to the end of grazing on federal lands.

AFBF is joined by the American Exploration & Mining Association, American Forest Resource Council, American Petroleum Institute, American Sheep Industry Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Mining Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Natrona County Farm & Ranch Bureau, Public Lands Council, Western Energy Alliance and Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation in its court challenge of the rule, which can be found here.

Source: AFBF, NCBA, PLC and Western Ag Network