By Jamie Martin
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has started the process to repeal the Biden administration’s Public Lands rule, a move welcomed by ranchers and agricultural organizations nationwide. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) filed a lawsuit in 2024 claiming the rule violated the multiple use requirement of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
Ranchers argued that the policy would have allowed federal agencies to sideline long-standing grazing operations and limit other traditional uses of public land. “NCBA fought back hard against this misguided rule, that was a dream for radical activists across the country looking to remove cattle from American rangeland, tear apart family ranches, and upend generations of legal precedent,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “Cattle producers were blindsided with this rulemaking two years ago and were not asked to give any input until the rule was already drafted. This was not a rulemaking to improve daily life for Americans, it was a shot across the bow of an entire industry, and we responded in kind. Thank you to the Trump administration and new BLM leadership for listening to producers and rescinding this grossly misguided rule.”
“The last administration turned their back on ranchers and land conservation when they developed this rule and cut us out of the planning process for lands that we have managed for generations. It is well known that public lands grazing supports a healthy ecosystem and reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” said PLC President and Colorado grazing permittee Tim Canterbury. “As permittees, we saw the rule’s clear intent: to remove us from our allotments and turn these lands into an unmanaged, unhealthy, unproductive liability. Ranchers across the West are thankful for the commonsense approach of the Trump administration to delete this rule from federal law and bring certainty back to ranchers and rural communities.”
The lawsuit was backed by a coalition of agriculture, mining, and energy groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Exploration and Mining Association, American Sheep Industry Association, National Mining Association, and several state farm bureaus.
The BLM’s decision to rescind the rule restores certainty for ranchers and rural communities while reaffirming the agency’s commitment to balanced multiple use management of America’s public lands.
Photo Credit: istock-alenamozhjer
Categories: National