Sponsor
Harriet Hageman
Representative · R-WY
Representative · R-WY
The bill reduces legal uncertainty for grazing permittees and preserves existing grassland protections, at the cost of some short-term disruption for permit holders and modest administrative expenses for federal agencies.
Ranchers and permittees on National Forest System lands get clearer statutory guidance on when grazing-permit term rules apply to their permits and leases, reducing legal ambiguity and the risk of disputes or litigation.
Farmers and rural communities retain existing legal protections for national grasslands and related programs because the bill explicitly preserves the applicability of other FLPMA provisions and Bankhead-Jones and PRIA §11, avoiding unintended disruptions to grazing, conservation, and related programs.
Some permit holders (ranchers and agricultural operators) may face short-term regulatory adjustments and uncertainty if agencies reinterpret how grazing-term rules apply, potentially disrupting grazing operations.
USDA and DOI will likely incur administrative costs to update guidance, agreements, and compliance processes to reflect the clarified statutory scope, creating budget and workload impacts for federal staff and possibly local partners.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Clarifies that grazing-permit term rules apply to permits and leases on National Forest System lands by updating statutory language.
Official title: To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that ranchers who have grazing agreements on national grasslands are treated the same as permittees on other Federal land.
Introduced November 25, 2025 by Harriet Hageman · Last progress November 25, 2025
Amends federal grazing law to clarify that the permit-term provisions apply to lands in the National Forest System by updating an existing statutory phrase. The change replaces a reference to "lands within National Forests" with a defined statutory reference to the National Forest System and expressly states that other laws affecting national grasslands and related statutes are unchanged.