Representative John Curtis has introduced the Operational Flexibility Grazing Management Program Act, aimed at providing ranchers nationwide with greater flexibility in managing lands crucial for livestock feed. This legislation builds upon a successful 2018 BLM pilot program across several western states, enabling grazing permittees to adjust operations in response to changing environmental and market conditions, as well as ecological emergencies like droughts and wildfires.
Key features of the Operational Flexibility Grazing Management Program Act include expanding and formalizing the 2018 BLM Pilot Program to offer increased flexibility to approved grazing permittees. It mandates that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provide at least one alternative flexible grazing option at the request of the permittee or lessee, developed in collaboration with relevant state and federal agencies, Indian Tribes, and other affected parties.
The bill also allows permittees and lessees to adjust pasture rotation dates up to 14 days before the agreed-upon start date and after the agreed-upon end date, accommodating unforeseen ecological changes and temporary conditions that may impact land use. Additionally, it requires the BLM to establish cooperative monitoring plans and rangeland health objectives to assess the program’s impact, consulting closely with affected permittees.
Kaitlynn Glover, Executive Director of Natural Resources at NCBA and PLC Executive Director, emphasized the importance of adaptive management for ranchers on federal lands, highlighting the role of livestock grazing in mitigating wildfire risks and maintaining landscape health.
“Livestock grazing is one of the best and most cost-effective methods to prevent catastrophic wildfires on federal lands, but so often permittees are constrained by overly burdensome federal management plans that restrict adaptive management. This legislation ensures that federal lands ranchers are able to adapt their plans based on on-the-ground conditions and apply the best possible management to the landscape, ” said Glover.
The legislation has garnered bipartisan support and a Senate version was introduced by Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), currently under review by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. For more details on the bill, click here.
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U.S. Representative Curtis
