Regulations, revelations, and reaffirmations

A recap from ICA & IPLC’s visit to our nation’s capital

After a four-year hiatus due to overlong COVID-related closures, leadership and staff of the Idaho Cattle Association and Idaho Public Lands Council returned to Washington, D.C. last month. Our mission was to bring our top priorities and concerns to the forefront of key agency leaders’ minds and seek for solutions to issues plaguing Idaho’s cattle industry. We also participated in industry-wide meetings of the Public Land Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Given the flurry of regulatory activity coming out

BY KAREN WILLIAMS ICA Natural Resources Policy Director

of Washington recently, we found no shortage of issues to talk about. As an industry, I would say we survived the first half of the Biden Administration’s term relatively unscathed, but agency leadership seems to be making up for lost time during the second half. Top on the list of concerns is BLM’s proposed Conservation and Landscape Health Rule. If you have read my recent article, or been around me the past month, you know that this is an issue that keeps me up at night. The good news is that word of its many faults is spreading and those across the political spectrum and multiple use landscape have taken note. There is a fairly widespread effort underway to limit or halt the rule’s implementation, but we will need your help in continuing to bang the drum of opposition. Refer to page 12 for more information about how you can help oppose this rule by taking action.

In addition to this concerning rule, there are a couple of other key looming issues coming out of the Department of Interior. For this reason, we scheduled a meeting with BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning while in D.C. In addition to underscoring our grave concerns with the conservation rule, we also discussed the forthcoming BLM sage grouse rule, grazing regulations revisions, and utility-scale renewable energy development on public lands, including, of course, the Lava Ridge Wind Project. Be prepared for us to be pressing you into service over the next several months as these various rules come out. We are going to need a lot of producer involvement in attending public meetings and in providing public comment. The draft sage grouse rule is supposed to be released for public review and comment in August. There is growing concern about how the new plan will look as a recently released skeleton draft of alternatives shows that the BLM is considering an alternative where grazing would not be allowed in sage grouse habitat. The state of Idaho’s collaborative effort is reconvening, under the leadership of the Office of Species Conservation, to fine-tune the state-specific plan which we will request the BLM to utilize. Our key message to Director Stone-Manning on this issue was to incorporate the state’s plan as the preferred alternative for managing sage grouse in Idaho.

In our meeting with the Director, she also revealed that the updates to the BLM’s grazing regulations will also be released in late summer. This is both welcome and concerning news all at once. Welcome because grazing regulations updates are much needed and are something we have asked for and worked toward for several years. Concerning because the Administration tipped their hand with the conservation rule and there is room for worry that rather than improve efficiencies and create flexibilities in management of grazing permits, the revisions could prove to be more problematic than what we are currently living with.

Across the National Mall from Department of Interior, we also spent some time within the halls of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We took the opportunity to meet with two USDA Under Secretaries, along with Forest Service and Farm Service Agency leadership. In our visit with Dr. Homer Wilkes, USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources, we focused on Forest Service-related issues. Dr. Wilkes hails from the south and so western Forest Service rangeland issues are new to him. In addition to delivering a general “grazing is good” message, we also spent some time talking about wildfires and the value of Rangeland Fire Protection Associations. He had particular interest in new technologies being developed for virtual fences for livestock which we discussed as a potential small-scale tool for managing livestock in certain situations, such as in the case of returning to grazing allotments within the 2022’s largest wildfire, the Moose Fire in Salmon.

In our meeting with USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Robert Bonnie, we focused on issues related to the agencies under his jurisdiction including the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service. We reaffirmed the fact that, with the Administration’s plans to conserve 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030, there could be no greater network of partners across the country than what could be found in the cattle industry, and we made sure he understood that in the climate change dialogue, cattle and grazing are part of the solution, not the problem. We found him receptive to our statements. We also discussed more localized staffing needs within both agencies in Idaho as well as concerns and ideas to improve various Farm Bill programs and administration. In a related meeting with FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux, we reinforced the staffing issues in Idaho and the need for leadership at the state level. We also discussed ways to improve farm loan programs operated by FSA.

Our visit to D.C. was capped off with meetings with each member of our congressional delegation. After meeting with agencies currently involved in creating challenges for our industry, it was refreshing to sit down with some friendly faces. All four members of our congressional delegation are on our side and are willing and ready to fight some battles for us. It is good for ICA to sit down with them periodically to remind them of our key issues of concern and to discuss ways the Congress can help to either halt the bad ideas coming out of the regulatory agencies or create legislation to improve the business environment for Idaho’s cattle producers.

Our time in our nation’s capital was both well spent and necessary in informing key decision makers of their actions’ impact on the both livelihoods of Idaho’s cattle producers and on Idaho’s landscape. As always, we will continue to forge ahead in representing Idaho cattlemen and women on issues of importance and will continue to lead the charge against any effort that could undermine your ability to raise cattle and pursue your way of life.

Your Participation Needed on BLM Public Lands Rule

The BLM Conservation and Landscape Health rule, released for public review in April, poses significant threats to multiple use of public land and has the potential to utterly disrupt and dismantle grazing on BLM lands. The proposed rule seeks to accomplish three main things, two of which pose significant threats to livestock grazing on BLM lands.

1. The rule would apply the fundamentals of land health and related standards and guidelines to all BLMmanaged public lands and uses. This is the only acceptable aspect of the rule. For too long, grazing has borne the blame for the impact of other users and impacts on public land including recreation, wildlife, drought, wildfire, and more. This section will level the playing field and require all users across all BLM lands to adhere to the land -health standards and which should, in theory, remove unrealistic expectations currently placed solely on grazing permittees.

2. The rule proposes to establish conservation leases on federal land . It elevates conservation as a use on par with other with other uses of the public lands under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act’s (FLPMA). The rule allows the general public to determine where the leases should be applied. This language sets the stage for opponents of public lands grazing to remove grazing in the name of conservation.

3. The rule would expand the use and designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs). It would “give priority to the designation and protection of ACECs” and “emphasize ACECs as the principal designation for protecting important natural, cultural, and scenic resources.” This portion of the rule is, in part, in response to the Biden administration’s call for more wildlife habitat connectivity. The use of ACEC designations is a favorite tool of anti -grazing activists to restrict grazing and related management tools.

Commenting Points

Please submit comments opposing this rule. You can use these points as the basis for your comments:

1. The rule violates Congressional direction for multiple use under FLPMA by adding a new “use” without express Congressional authorization.

2. The proposed rule does not put this new “use” “on par with other uses”, but gives conservation leases the power to eliminate multiple use on federal lands.

3. BLM’s inappropriately narrow definition for “conservation” creates conflicts with other agencies, and other BLM interpretations, cementing the message that BLM does not believe that conservation and multiple use are compatible.

4. BLM inaccurately asserts FLPMA directs the agency to “promote” the use of restrictive ACEC designations, despite purported commitments to rangeland objectives .

For a more detailed talking points sheet or a copy of ICA’s full comments, send an email to karen@idahocattle.org

By mail:

Online: https://www.regulations.gov

Dept. of the Interior, Director (630) Bureau of Land Management 1849 C St. NW, Room 5646 Washington, DC 20240