Public Lands Council President and Colorado grazing permittee Tim Canterbury recently testified before the US House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands in support of the multiple use mandate and the benefits it brings to America’s rangelands.

"Over the last four years, there have been several policy changes that have eroded the careful balance of multiple use management and have threatened grazing’s place on the landscape. The Bureau of Land Management’s ill-conceived 'Public Lands rule' upended the agency’s longstanding expectation of upholding the multiple use mandate and illegally prioritizes other single uses over grazing," said Canterbury.

"The Biden Administration’s changes to NEPA and how they handled land management picked winners and losers among multiple uses, while at the same leaving public lands more vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires. Under the updated NEPA authorities, federal agencies elevated solar and wind energy goals as well as allotted staff time and funding to projects they deemed a priority – while other uses were deprioritized, delayed, and devalued. This illegal prioritization only exacerbated the impact of wildfires and left our nation’s treasured natural resources in worse condition,” Canterbury said.

Canterbury went on to highlight ways Congress can exert their authority to make substantial and beneficial changes. “Congress needs to work closely with the Trump Administration to increase grazing flexibility and modernize outdated laws that have been weaponized against ranchers. This means passing key legislation such as the Fix Our Forests Act and ensuring agencies understand that targeted grazing needs to happen on more than just grazing allotments. The greatest fire risks are in areas outside allotments, where fuel loads have been left untreated for years and are a threat to all the uses around them. NEPA and the Endangered Species Act need to be brought back to the 21st century. They do not move at the speed of commerce and get in the way of vital conservation work. There are permittees that have been waiting more than a decade on a single NEPA review, this is unacceptable in the digital age and is one of the biggest reasons wildfires have been raging in the West,” said Canterbury.

Source: National Cattlemen's Beef Association