Resiliency for Ranching and Natural Conservation Health Act

This bill helps ranchers who graze livestock on federal land when disaster strikes. If a rancher’s usual grazing area becomes unusable because of extreme weather, drought, wildfire, infestation, or blight, federal land managers can let them temporarily use a nearby vacant allotment that is suitable for grazing. Agencies must base the temporary terms on local ecological conditions and past permit terms, and they may allow short-term fixes like portable corrals, fencing, aboveground pipelines, and water troughs. Agencies are directed to coordinate so vacant allotments can be used across boundaries. Using a vacant allotment won’t change a rancher’s original permit, their place to return to, or their future grazing amounts.

How long the temporary use lasts depends on the condition of the vacant allotment and how long it takes the original area to recover. Within one year of the law taking effect, agencies must set guidelines to speed up these decisions, and they will periodically check land health to keep the process working well.

Key points

• Who is affected: Holders of federal grazing permits or leases on public lands and National Forest System lands.
• What changes: Temporary use of vacant allotments during disasters; agencies can allow temporary infrastructure; cross-agency coordination; no change to original permit rights or future grazing amounts.
• When: During and after extreme events, for as long as needed based on land conditions; guidelines due within one year to make the process faster.