The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS on potential amendments to the agency’s grazing regulations. The NOI is the first step toward rolling back Bruce Babbitt’s “Range Reform ‘94” and bolstering the role of grazing as a multiple-use on federal land. The Public Lands Council (PLC) has been very involved with the Interior Department, up to and including Secretary Bernhardt; to ensure that new regulations remain a priority.
In addition, the NOI announced that BLM will host an in-person scoping meeting to provide further details. This meeting will be held on February 6th, in Miles City Montana at the Sleep Inn Hotel from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Individual ranchers and local organization are encouraged to submit scoping comments no later than 15 days following the public scoping meeting. Comments can be submitted at the BLM website.
In the Fall of 2018, PLC convened a working group of its members to develop recommendations for BLM’s consideration as they began this process. But, keep in mind that we can expect the usual environmental organizations to turn out to these meetings and demand that the BLM explore the “harmful” effects of livestock grazing in western ecosystems. Therefore, it is paramount that our members and state affiliate representatives turn out to these meetings to ensure balance in the comments received by the BLM.
