Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order Tuesday directing federal agencies to identify more land for livestock grazing, renew grazing permits for full 10-year terms and produce a plan to clear a backlog of permit renewals, the Interior Department announced.
The order gives bureaus 30 days to identify new lands that could be available for grazing and gives the Bureau of Land Management 60 days to present its permit-backlog plan. It is a concrete step in the administration’s effort to expand domestic meat production, though the announcement does not establish when additional cattle could reach the market or how much shoppers might save.
More land and longer-term certainty
The department said the order formalizes its Rangeland Health Initiative and extends it to Interior bureaus with grazing lands. The Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation are directed to identify land that can be made available for livestock.
The plan also calls for reinstating suspended grazing allotments, using technology to speed permit approvals and creating a public, department-wide map of lands available for grazing. Interior said it would simplify applications and improve coordination with the Agriculture Department’s Forest Service to reduce differences in management requirements.
For ranchers who rely on federal land for part of the year, access and permit terms are business inputs: they shape where animals can feed and how confidently an operation can plan ahead. The order’s full-term renewals and backlog deadlines address that planning problem rather than providing an immediate increase in meat supplies.
Production goals are not a promise of lower prices
Interior described the policy as a way to support ranchers and lower costs for consumers, and said the national cattle herd is at a 75-year low. Those are the department’s stated rationale and goals. Its announcement does not quantify a production increase, promise a retail-price reduction or specify how many additional acres will ultimately be opened.
The order also directs reviews of policies affecting ranchers’ ability to protect livestock from predators. Interior says well-managed grazing can help control invasive grasses and reduce wildfire risk, making land management another part of the initiative.
The first measurable milestones are now the land-identification reports and the BLM backlog plan. They will show how the department intends to turn Tuesday’s direction into additional grazing opportunities and faster permit decisions.
JBizNews Desk | Washington
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