Please Support Bill to Protect Western Public Lands from Livestock Grazing

Make Room for Mustangs! Ask Congress to Support Legislation to Allow for Voluntary Retirement of Livestock Grazing Permits on Public Lands

Photo by Terry Fitch, Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Livestock grazing represents the largest single commercial use of federal lands in the lower 48 states. On our public lands across the West, millions of livestock trample and destroy vegetation, damage soil, spread invasive weeds, pollute water, and deprive wildlife -- including wild horses and burros -- of forage and water.

In fact, the driving force behind the mass roundup and removal of wild horses and burros from public lands is the commercial livestock industry. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has always allocated the majority of forage and water resources in designated Herd Management Areas to privately-owned cattle and sheep, instead of federally-protected wild horses and burros, and will continue to do so until grazing permits are retired. 

The Rural Economic Vitalization Act (H.R. 3432) would allow federal grazing permit holders to voluntarily relinquish their permits in exchange for compensation paid by a third party. The grazing permit will then be permanently retired. There are public lands ranchers interested in retiring their grazing permits under the circumstances offered by this legislation.

Please help restore our public wild lands and protect wild horses & burros by asking your Representative to support and co-sponsor the Rural Economic Vitalization Act (H.R. 3432).

Learn more about this bill by clicking here.

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More Information on Public Lands Grazing & Wild Horses

Photo by Kimerlee Curyl.

Welfare Ranching is the driving force behind the mass removal of wild horses from public lands. The cattlemen’s lobby wants to maintain access to taxpayer-subsidized, commercial livestock grazing on public lands.

  • The BLM charges ranchers $1.35 per Animal Unit Month (AUM). [An AUM is the amount of forage necessary to sustain 1 horse, 3 burros, 1 cow/calf pair or 5 sheep/goats for one month.] According to the Congressional Research Service, “This is the lowest fee that can be charged.” It is cheaper than rates charged by other federal agencies as well as states and a fraction of the market rate for grazing on private land. (Average monthly rate $15.10 per head according to aCongressional Research Service report.)
  • In 2012, the Obama Administration announced that it would seek to increase the grazing fee by one dollar to $2.35 per AUM, but Congress must approve it, and the livestock industry is strongly opposing this modest proposal. 
  • The BLM grazing program costs taxpayers nearly $50 million annually. The Center for Biological Diversity estimated that the costs to U.S. taxpayers for public lands grazing on all federal lands was roughly $500 million annually. (Congressional Research Service report).
  • Wild horses and burros are outnumbered at least 50-1 by privately-owned cattle and sheep on BLM lands. Wild horses are restricted to just 11 percent of BLM lands, which they must share with livestock. Yet even on the small amount of BLM land designated as wild horse habitat, the BLM allocates the majority of forage to private livestock, not wild horses. 
  • The BLM administers about 245 million acres of public lands (more than any other federal agency). Livestock grazing is authorized on 157 million acres of those lands.(BLM Grazing Fact Sheet.) Wild horses are restricted to 26.9 million acres of BLM land. (BLM Quick Facts)
  • The BLM authorizes the equivalent of more than 1 million cow/calf pairs to graze on BLM lands vs. a maximum of 26,600 wild horses and burros.