6 minute read
Message from the Public Lands Council
As regulatory change continues, your voice is critical
BY KAITLYNN GLOVER Executive Director of the Public Lands Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Natural Resources
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PLC will keep working to make federal lands grazing profitable and sustainable, and to show the public our importance
As we turn the page to a new year, many of us are thankful that a new year brings new possibilities. The past 12 months have been filled with uncertainty, unrest and more challenges than any of us could have anticipated after an equally challenging 2020. Like many of you, I hope that 2022 brings rain and a return to normalcy that all of us have put on our Christmas lists for the second year running.
In Washington, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the angst that seems to embody politics these days. Political gamesmanship is likely to continue to be the name of the game for 2022. Campaign season has already begun for the midterms, and the partisan posturing that accompanies the race to the ballot box has only gotten started. Based on what we’ve seen so far, the coming year will likely look a lot like the one we’ve just ended.
While we may not be able to expect much in the way of congressional activity in 2022, the Biden administration is likely to continue its sprint toward regulatory reform. We got a taste in 2021 of what’s to come: a redo of the National Environmental Policy Act guidance, rescission of a handful of Endangered Species Act rules, and a complete reconsideration of the “waters of the United States” definition.
Even though we knew each of these reforms was on the horizon, spending our days writing comment letter after comment letter and watching our wins go down the Federal Register was still a tough pill to swallow. This administration is running – not walking – headlong into a regulatory overhaul, the likes of which we haven’t seen in many years.
There’s no doubt the administration’s plan for the coming year will result in untold hours spent gathering science, drafting and editing comments, and continuing to tell the federal agencies that what this country desperately needs is certainty and consistency, not political gamesmanship and regulatory whiplash. Be ready – your voice is crucial in these conversations. PLC will continue to hold the line in Washington, but we depend on your expertise to guide our next steps.
I’d be remiss, however, if I didn’t direct some attention to the year’s bright spots. While drought, market uncertainty and our own health weighed heavily on ranchers in 2021, the eyes of the American public were on you. This past year continued the trend that has made the urban public interested in where their food comes from and how it is produced.
This interest intersected with another reality this year: People are leaving this country’s big cities in droves – and coming to the wild, wild West, where the air is clean, the beef and lamb are fresh, and the horizon is unmarred by high-rise living.
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These new neighbors are asking more questions about the lambs and calves they see on their weekend hikes. They’re starting to make the connections between grazing on federal lands and the food they eat and the air they breathe. They’re starting to see how the work you do means that the landscapes they are learning to love have been, and will continue to be, healthy for generations.
Whether it’s through a formal recognition that grazing is conservation through the Biden administration’s 30 x 30 plan or through a partnership with the new, local mountain biking club, livestock producers are continuing to grow in visibility and popularity. We must use this platform – and use it wisely.
The coming year holds the same challenges and opportunities that we’ve been grappling with for years. What’s true on Dec. 31 is true on Jan. 1, but the difference is that with a new year comes a renewed purpose. For 2022, recommit to all of the things it takes to make federal lands grazing profitable, sustainable and meaningful. I am proud to work with all of you, and I look forward to seeing you down the road.
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