The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today it has begun the process of rescinding the Biden-era “Public Lands” rule, a move the ranching industry calls a victory for family operations and rural communities. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) filed a lawsuit in 2024 challenging the rule, arguing it violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act’s (FLPMA) multiple use mandate and threatened to remove ranching and other productive activities from public lands.
“NCBA fought back hard against this misguided rule, that was a dream for radical activists across the country looking to remove cattle from American rangeland, tear apart family ranches, and upend generations of legal precedent,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “Cattle producers were blindsided with this rulemaking two years ago and were not asked to give any input until the rule was already drafted. This was not a rulemaking to improve daily life for Americans, it was a shot across the bow of an entire industry, and we responded in kind. Thank you to the Trump administration and new BLM leadership for listening to producers and rescinding this grossly misguided rule.”
PLC President and Colorado grazing permittee Tim Canterbury echoed those concerns, saying the Biden administration “turned their back on ranchers and land conservation when they developed this rule and cut us out of the planning process for lands that we have managed for generations.” Canterbury added that grazing reduces wildfire risks and supports healthy ecosystems, while the rescinded rule aimed to remove permittees and leave rangeland unmanaged.
The 2024 lawsuit against BLM included NCBA, PLC, and a broad coalition of groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Sheep Industry Association, American Petroleum Institute, and multiple state and county farm bureaus.
