Western Cattlemen Push Back on Federal Land Restrictions

By Carrie Stadheim | The Fence Post

Several groups of cattle producers could be seen walking the halls of Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in recent weeks. No, they weren’t lost.

They were detailing some of the ways government prevents cattle producers from being profitable and identifying solutions that could help.

Jack Payne, owner of Nevada Livestock Marketing, was one of five ranchers from western states to meet with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to describe the drastically diminished cattle numbers on federal lands.

Grazing is needed on rangelands to maintain plant and soil health, reduce fire danger and provide economic stability to communities, Payne said.

Secretary Rollins posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 6, 2025, “Earlier this week, I sat down with some of the greatest Americans I have ever met — multi generational Western ranchers who put it plain and simple: Washington has been working against them, not for them. Of the 640 million acres owned by the federal government, 35 percent is actively permitted for grazing, including 40 percent of the USDA Forest Service’s 193 million acres.

“Unfortunately, federal land ranchers are facing delays in THOUSANDS of grazing permits and historic lack of coordination across USDA and DOI who manage these lands. That stops TODAY with the Trump Administration. I have spoken directly to [US Department of the Interior Secretary] Doug Burgum and our incredible USDA and Interior teams have already begun to map solutions. More coming soon.

“These ranchers feed our families, fuel our economy, and keep America going strong. They deserve a government that has their back, not one that ties their hands.

“We’re taking action. Big changes are coming. Stay tuned,” said Secretary Rollins.

FEDERAL LANDS AUM CUTS

Payne said his group explained to the secretary that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service have in many cases cut grazing numbers unnecessarily. The USDA manages U.S. Forest Service land, while the Department of the Interior oversees BLM property.

A BLM report showed about 2 million active and about 500,000 “suspended” AUMs (animal units per month) in the state of Nevada in 2018. The 2 million AUMs equates to about 167,000 cow-calf pairs grazed on Nevada BLM land each year.

According to the BLM, about 14.4 million AUMs were permitted in 1966, and about 10.8 million were permitted in 2024.

The number of cattle permitted to graze on U.S. Forest Service land dropped from about 9 million in 1966 to about 6.6 million in 2013.

“They way I view it, they are ‘CRPing’ the Western United States. But we’re not paying people not to graze it. Instead we are handing it off to environmental groups,” Payne said.

Payne said one tactic to reduce grazing is for the government to adjust the grazing period to an unfriendly and difficult to use timeframe.

“On our Idaho ranch, the grazing period was originally June to October. Now it’s April to July. That is mountainous country. The roads aren’t graveled, yet they want us to haul cattle in there in April. Usually getting them hauled in May or June is even a challenge. That was one of their tactics. They knew we couldn’t get them in there in April,” he said.

“Most people feed cattle from December to April in that area. So if we are grazing from maybe May to July, that leaves four to five months with nowhere to go,” he said. Payne said he ranches in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon, on BLM land. With only around 29 percent of Idaho’s land and about 12 percent of Nevada land in private ownership, cattle ranches on private property essentially don’t exist.

“In Nevada, the private property we do have is a 40 here and an 80 there,” Payne said.

On an Idaho ranch Payne owns, the cattle numbers have been slashed from 6,000 AUMs to about 2,400.

Payne said that while the Idaho ranch, for example, could handle at least 6,000 AUMs, that doesn’t equate to 6,000 cows. “It should be a six to eight month grazing permit,” he said.

A 6,000 AUM agreement for June through October equated to 1,200 cows. The current, shorter agreement with 2,400 AUMs means Payne can graze about 700 cows for three and a half months.

Payne emphasized that even the 6,000 threshold was cautiously low. “It could actually handle more cattle than 6,000 AUMs, but instead, they cut our numbers. Now the grass is dying. They don’t let you run enough cattle to utilize 10 percent of the grass,” he said.

“They aren’t eating half the grass right now. They are targeting their favorite plants so their less favorite plants don’t get grazed. So they get an advantage over the plants they like. By not leaving enough cattle to clean things up, we are hurting the perennials, and the undesirable grasses like cheatgrass take over,” he said.

Payne said another method of reducing AUMs is to sell them to non-ranchers (usually anti-grazing groups) who “retire” the grazing agreement or run the bare minimum of cattle. 

Payne pointed out that anti-grazing, self-proclaimed “environmental” groups have “made a business” out of suing over alleged infractions on federal land. An organization might file suit on 18 different things, including items like stubble height of grass. If they are found correct on just one point, the government pays the court costs via the equal rights to justice act, and cuts or eliminates ranchers’ AUMs.

Even if no lawsuit is filed, the threat of one can impact grazing policy. “These environmentalist types in the BLM, they might not even be sued by Western Watersheds. But they draw Western Watersheds ‘like a gun’ to threaten ranchers. The BLM is using them as an excuse for everything they don’t want to do. Everything that is pro-grazing and pro-rancher,” Payne said. In some cases, he said, the BLM invites Western Watersheds to attend meetings with producers meant to determine range management plans.

STALL TACTICS

Payne said paperwork is often another hindrance to what he considers efficient use of public land.

“We need to get to a place where we aren’t waiting on 10 years of paperwork to do anything,” he said. “And we need the ability to use third party contractors to conduct research.”

For example, Payne has submitted requests to the BLM on wet years for non-renewable permit due to extra forage being available. But red tape prevents the request from ever being approved. “They say they are understaffed. So the answer is ‘no’ because they say they don’t have anyone to help do the study,” he said. Payne would like the approval to hire an independent third party contractor to do the measuring, etc., required to issue timely permits. “We want a third party that is not groomed by the BLM. We want independence,” he said.

Hayden Ballard, a Utah rancher and attorney who specializes in federal lands law and agricultural law via his organization Great Western Resources, said that a 2015 study from Utah State University revealed that each permitted AUM on federal land in southern Utah results in an economic impact to surrounding communities of $100 per AUM per year. Accordingly, for every single retired or suspended AUM, the local community loses $100 annually and the rancher also loses the fair market value of those AUMs.”

Payne pointed out that, based off that calculation, communities in Nevada, Idaho and other Western states have lost millions of dollars over the course of several decades.

Ballard, who was another of the five ranchers invited to meet with Secretary Rollins, explained that the sheer volume of federal land ownership in the West is completely different from eastern states.

“Only about 19 percent of our state’s land mass is in private agriculture,” said Ballard. He said that land mass is similar to the states of Vermont and New Hampshire put together.

“If you want to raise cattle in Utah, you have to incorporate these federal grazing allotments. There isn’t enough private land to ranch without it,” he said.

Since 1976 when the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA) was enacted, the number of AUMs has “taken a deep dive,” Ballard said.

“We would like to see grazing restored to pre-1976 levels. I don’t know if that’s possible, but that’s the goal,” he said.

“We are trying to put a stop to those losses and increase opportunities for young farmers and ranchers in the next generation coming up. That’s the focus. It’s not about me and the other guys my age, it’s about preserving a life for my kids and hopefully my grandkids.”

Ballard was excited for the chance to present his concerns to Secretary Rollins. “I was thoroughly impressed with Secretary Rollins and I believe her team is devoted to helping federal lands ranchers,” he said.

“It has been said by her detractors that America has no unique culture. I disagree. The cowboy is a living symbol that is uniquely American, but if the decline of federal land ranching continues, then at least in the West itself, this iconic way of life will continue to deteriorate. We need to restore trust and confidence in the future of federal land ranching, so that we can leave our children and grandchildren the same legacy and way of life we were so blessed to inherit.”  

Ballard said there are a couple of ways ranchers can help keep this issue on the forefront of their Senators’ and Congressional representatives’ list of priorities.

Support the “America First” agenda, he said. “For example, the USDA has announced the rescission of the 2001 ‘Roadless Rule’ and the BLM has announced the rescission of the so-called ‘Conservation and Landscape Health Rule.’ Both of these rescissions are common-sense wins for our western producers, and we need to submit public comments in support of positive changes like these. In that vein, we need to, metaphorically, ‘strike while the iron is hot.’ The Trump Administration has shown a willingness to restore active management to our Western forests and rangelands, so find ways to identify positive changes you’d like to see and get those ideas to your local elected officials so that we can — truly — Make America Great Again,” Ballard said.

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