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Trustee Archive
The Forrest Service and the Bureau of Land Management administer our public lands grazing program. This program allows 3% of our nation's cattle, horses, goats and sheep to graze on public lands including our national parks. This arrangement mostly benefits large commercial ranching operations, or about 2% of all our ranchers. Fees collected from these ranchers do not cover the cost of administering the grazing program. Not counting the damage done to ecosystems, the annual cost to taxpayers of this program is estimated to be about $100 million. Expired grazing permits are usually renewed automatically without financial or environmental review. Grazing opponents cite substantial environmental damage caused by grazing, saying low fees encourage misuse.
Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of H.R.6935 - Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act (117th Congress 2021-2022)
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Adan Smith (WA) |
- I oppose reforming current federal lands grazing policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA).
- I support authorizing the voluntary waiver of permits or leases for grazing on federal lands. If a permit or lease is waived by a permittee or lessee with the intention of permanently ending livestock grazing, the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior must:
1.) Accept and terminate, on a first-come, first-served basis, the permit or lease.
2.) Refrain from issuing any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the permit or lease.
3.) Ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on the allotment covered by the permit or lease.
If an allotment covered by a waiver is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, the department must reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the allotment to reflect the waiver.
4.) Prohibiting these departments from accepting more than 100 grazing permits per year, in the aggregate for all of the 16 western states; and 25 grazing permits for land located in whole or in part in any individual state.
And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Adan Smith (WA) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.
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| Winning Option
»» No issues were voted |
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I support authorizing the voluntary waiver of permits or leases for grazing on federal lands. If a permit or lease is waived by a permittee or lessee with the intention of permanently ending livestock grazing, the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior must:
1.) Accept and terminate, on a first-come, first-served basis, the permit or lease.
2.) Refrain from issuing any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the permit or lease.
3.) Ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on the allotment covered by the permit or lease.
If an allotment covered by a waiver is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, the department must reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the allotment to reflect the waiver.
4.) Prohibiting these departments from accepting more than 100 grazing permits per year, in the aggregate for all of the 16 western states; and 25 grazing permits for land located in whole or in part in any individual state.
And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Adan Smith (WA) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.
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- Representative
If elected as a trustee, the campaign committee of Rep. Adan Smith (WA) will be unconditionally awarded the funds pledged to this issue along with a letter requesting him to favorably consider either reintroducing H.R.6935 - Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act (117th Congress 2021-2022), or a similar version thereof.
- Western Watersheds Project
If elected as a trustee, Western Watersheds Project will be awarded the funds pledged to this issue along with a letter requesting these funds be used to advocate for reducing or eliminating livestock grazing on federal lands.
The mission of Western Watersheds Project is to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy. Western Watersheds Project is a nonprofit environmental conservation group with 1,500 members founded in 1993 and has field offices in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California. WWP works to influence and improve public lands management throughout the West with a primary focus on the negative impacts of livestock grazing on 250 million acres of western public lands, including harm to ecological, biological, cultural, historic, archeological, scenic resources, wilderness values, roadless areas, Wilderness Study Areas and designated Wilderness.
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- No trustee votes received.
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| Poll Opening Date |
February 27, 2023 |
| Poll Closing Date |
March 05, 2023 |
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