G
George Wuerthner
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Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is encouraging ranchers with public-lands grazing permits to take advantage of new Trump Administration policies that expand livestock grazing on public lands. The process is designed to pressure federal employees to ignore ecological and environmental policies and increase private use of public resources for private profit. These policies, if fully implemented, will likely increase the abuse and degradation of public lands resulting from livestock grazing.
Cattle trashing riparian zone below Ruby Mountains, Nevada. Photo by George Wuerthner
A Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility (PEER) analysis looked at records from 2019 through 2023 of more than 21,000 BLM grazing allotments in ten western states. More than 56 million acres (an area larger than Idaho) fail BLM Land Health Standards. Livestock is identified as the major cause of failure for at least 37 million acres (an area bigger than Florida), making overgrazing by far the biggest cause of landscape health failure across the West.
The modern cowboy (rancher) herding cattle in the Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana. Photo by George Wuerthner
No doubt, beyond the Trump Administration’s general antagonism toward anything that protects and preserves public resources, part of the motivation for these policies is to buy off ranchers angry about trade tariffs, rising fuel costs, and Trump’s goal of importing foreign beef to lower food costs.
Part of the motivation to expand public land livestock grazing by the Trump Administration is to win back support from ranchers and consumers hit hard by import tariffs, higher fuel costs and the import of foreign beef. Photo by George Wuerthner
The new policies will increase livestock utilization of public lands. The goal is to boost grazing by at least 500,000 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) on Forest Service lands in the next two years. An AUM is the amount of forage that a cow and calf will consume in a month.
Cattle grazing a meadow down to golf course level in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. Bighorn National Forest. Photo by George Wuerthner
In addition, the new policies seek to implement a “no net loss” of AUMS on federal allotments.
Cows trash a riparian area on West Fork Blacktail Creek, Beaverhead Deerlodge NF, Montana. Note the absence of streamside willows and other vegetation, the shallow stream, pollution from cow manure in the water and broken banks. Photo by George Wuerthner
One of the worst aspects of the new directive is that it mandates opening vacant (Ungrazed but not officially closed to livestock use) and closed grazing allotments, where no livestock grazing is permitted, for new livestock use.
Lush grass cover in a “closed” grazing allotment in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana. The new policy would open such closed allotments to new grazing impacts. Photo by George Wuerthner
In many instances, these vacant and closed allotments provide a viable control or comparison between grazed and Ungrazed lands.
Ungrazed by livestock native bunchgrasses in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Photo by George Wuerthner
The new policy also suggests the Trump Administration will “streamline” (read: ignore or eliminate) environmental reviews.
The administration also calls for “improved communication” and coordination (read: you will do everything you can to increase rancher utilization of public forage) between permit holders and federal land managers.
Private livestock consume forage that would otherwise support native herbivores, from elk to prairie dogs. Adding more livestock to our already overgrazing lands will only harm native wildlife.
Rollins also directed producers to USDA’s Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework, established in February 2026 to collect complaints involving what the department describes as agricultural lawfare. In other words, report any effort on the part of federal employees to protect federal lands from livestock abuse.
Cattle have totally destroyed this riparian area in the Challis National Forest, Idaho. Expect more such landscapes if Trump Administration policies are fully implemented. Photo by George Wuerthner
The Trump Administration suggests that Ag lawfare is a “misuse” of legal or legislative rules to “adversely affect agricultural producers. Note that there is no similar concern about abuse or damage to public resources, or intimidation of federal employees attempting to uphold laws governing grazing use of public resources.
Cattle trashing riparian zone below Ruby Mountains, Nevada. Photo by George Wuerthner
A Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility (PEER) analysis looked at records from 2019 through 2023 of more than 21,000 BLM grazing allotments in ten western states. More than 56 million acres (an area larger than Idaho) fail BLM Land Health Standards. Livestock is identified as the major cause of failure for at least 37 million acres (an area bigger than Florida), making overgrazing by far the biggest cause of landscape health failure across the West.
The modern cowboy (rancher) herding cattle in the Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana. Photo by George Wuerthner
No doubt, beyond the Trump Administration’s general antagonism toward anything that protects and preserves public resources, part of the motivation for these policies is to buy off ranchers angry about trade tariffs, rising fuel costs, and Trump’s goal of importing foreign beef to lower food costs.
Part of the motivation to expand public land livestock grazing by the Trump Administration is to win back support from ranchers and consumers hit hard by import tariffs, higher fuel costs and the import of foreign beef. Photo by George Wuerthner
The new policies will increase livestock utilization of public lands. The goal is to boost grazing by at least 500,000 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) on Forest Service lands in the next two years. An AUM is the amount of forage that a cow and calf will consume in a month.
Cattle grazing a meadow down to golf course level in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. Bighorn National Forest. Photo by George Wuerthner
In addition, the new policies seek to implement a “no net loss” of AUMS on federal allotments.
Cows trash a riparian area on West Fork Blacktail Creek, Beaverhead Deerlodge NF, Montana. Note the absence of streamside willows and other vegetation, the shallow stream, pollution from cow manure in the water and broken banks. Photo by George Wuerthner
One of the worst aspects of the new directive is that it mandates opening vacant (Ungrazed but not officially closed to livestock use) and closed grazing allotments, where no livestock grazing is permitted, for new livestock use.
Lush grass cover in a “closed” grazing allotment in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana. The new policy would open such closed allotments to new grazing impacts. Photo by George Wuerthner
In many instances, these vacant and closed allotments provide a viable control or comparison between grazed and Ungrazed lands.
Ungrazed by livestock native bunchgrasses in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Photo by George Wuerthner
The new policy also suggests the Trump Administration will “streamline” (read: ignore or eliminate) environmental reviews.
The administration also calls for “improved communication” and coordination (read: you will do everything you can to increase rancher utilization of public forage) between permit holders and federal land managers.
Private livestock consume forage that would otherwise support native herbivores, from elk to prairie dogs. Adding more livestock to our already overgrazing lands will only harm native wildlife.
Rollins also directed producers to USDA’s Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework, established in February 2026 to collect complaints involving what the department describes as agricultural lawfare. In other words, report any effort on the part of federal employees to protect federal lands from livestock abuse.
Cattle have totally destroyed this riparian area in the Challis National Forest, Idaho. Expect more such landscapes if Trump Administration policies are fully implemented. Photo by George Wuerthner
The Trump Administration suggests that Ag lawfare is a “misuse” of legal or legislative rules to “adversely affect agricultural producers. Note that there is no similar concern about abuse or damage to public resources, or intimidation of federal employees attempting to uphold laws governing grazing use of public resources.