Ongoing Wildfires and Prevention Efforts

Land & Livestock Report
Many of us across the West are experiencing the smoky skies of the region's numerous ongoing wildfires.

EPA Releases Final WOTUS Rule

Farm of the Future
Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers released their final Waters of the U.S. Rule.

PLC Priorities: Antiquities Act and Equal Access to Justice Act

Land & Livestock Report
Public Lands Council Executive Director Dustin Van Liew says in addition to the modernization of the Endangered Species Act there are several other PLC's legislative priorities this year as well.

Modernization of ESA a Must

Land & Livestock Report
Public Lands Council Executive Director Dustin Van Liew says one of PLC's highest legislative priorities this year is the modernization of the Endangered Species Act.

Ag Secretary Proposes Closing Idaho's Sheep Research Station

Land & Livestock Report
In late June USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack sent a letter to House Appropriators stating he would close the Dubois, Idaho, U.S. Sheep Experimental Station due to prolonged period of declining and flat budgets which have resulted in underfunded programs at the station.

Bill Reinstate Reporting and Tracking of Payments of Equal Access to Justice Act

Land & Livestock Report
A recent bi-partisan bill passed the U.S. House which would increase transparency of federal attorneys' fees payments as well as reinstating tracking and reporting requirements of payments made by the federal government under the Equal Access to Justice Act or EAJA.

Grazing Act Passed in House

Land & Livestock Report
A bill that will improve the livestock grazing permitting process on lands managed by the BLM and US. Forest Service passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month.

The Rescinding of DOI's National Blueways Program

Land & Livestock Report
Not very often are there regulations being revoked, today's story focuses on a little known

Department of Interior's Secretarial Order 3312 or National Blueways Initiative created in 2012 -- which allowed the federal government to designate watersheds from hilltop to hilltop and then regulate those waterways the land and water throughout those areas.

Grazing Improvement Act Update

Land & Livestock Report
After much persistence and patience from Western livestock producers and the Public Lands Council, another step forward was made to streamline the National Environmental Protection Agency or NEPA's onerous review process that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have had to go through for renewal of grazing permits on federal lands.

PLC Priorities Mapped Out

Land & Livestock Report
Earlier this month the Public Lands Council held its Annual Meeting in Deadwood, South Dakota with more than 100 members attending.

Forest Planning Rule Goes Astray

Land & Livestock Report
In early June, the Public Lands Council along with several other multiple use industry groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Planning Rule due to it being in violation of current federal statutes and negatively impact multiple users like ranchers.

Grazing Improvement Act Passes House Natural Resources Committee

Land & Livestock Report
With the defeat of last week's House version of the Farm Bill while at the Oregon Cattlemen's Association Centennial Celebration I was looking for some examples of House bipartisanship in moving ag producers interest forward to counterbalance the fail of the Farm Bill.

Sage Grouse Database Available

Land & Livestock Report
The Public Lands Council has its sage grouse database up and running. This user-friendly library of information pertains to the sage grouse conservation and is available to the public land grazing community.

PLC and NCBA Ask Supreme Court to Settle Hage Case

Land & Livestock Report
The Public Land Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up and settle a decades-long property rights case, Hage v. United States.

Proposed Endangered Species Act Rule

Land & Livestock Report
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently re-opened the comment period on a proposed Endangered Species Act Rule.

Sage Grouse Database

Farm of the Future
Some in the grazing community say the potential listing of sage grouse could make it the next Spotted Owl -- referencing the dramatic effects to the the Pacific NW's logging industry when that species was listed through the ESA.