Hatch, Barrasso Bill Helps Ranchers by Preserving Grazing Rights

WASHINGTON –Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has joined Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) in introducing legislation that will bring greater certainly to ranchers and farmers in rural Utah and other states who graze livestock in the face of constant legal challenges from environmental extremists. The Grazing Improvement Act of 2011 (S. 1129) helps ranching communities by preserving the use of livestock grazing permits. It provides more flexibility to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service, allowing them to continue issuing grazing permits while required environmental analyses are pending. Under current law, livestock grazing permits expire after 10 years, and a new environmental analysis is mandatory before a new one can be issued. Unfortunately, federal agencies have been hamstrung in renewing permits because of the backlog of environmentalist lawsuits aimed at delaying the process. For more than a decade, grazing permit holders and public land agencies have relied on Congress to temporarily grant continued use of grazing permits every year. The Grazing Improvement Act changes this by allowing the BLM and Forest Service to continue issuing grazing permits while an environmental analysis is being completed. It also provides more flexibility with categorical exclusions and other needed reforms to grazing permits...
Press Release