The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is apparently set to issue new livestock grazing regulations, according to Don L. (Bebo) Lee, president of the New Mexico Federal Lands Council, Alamogordo.
“There have been rumors about news regulations coming for several months, but they weren’t confirmed by the agency,” he noted. In the past couple of weeks New Mexico Counties have begun receiving invitations to participate as cooperating agencies as new regulations are developed, said Lee. “To our knowledge there are no copies of proposed regulations available,” he said. “Thus far we believe at least three counties have been invited to become cooperators. If anyone believes that their county should be included, it would be wise to contact your county commissioner to see if they will apply for cooperating status.”
Livestock grazing regulations came about with the Taylor Grazing Act (TGA) in 1934. Over time they have been updated, the last time in 1993 by the Clinton Administration. Some of those regulatory changes resulted in litigation and additional changes over the next decade.
In anticipation of future changes, the New Mexico Federal Lands Council joined with ranchers from Arizona and Wyoming to review and propose revisions to the current regulations in 2018, Lee explained. Those were transmitted to the BLM.
“We don’t know if any of our suggestions will be contained in the coming proposal, but we can hope,” Lee concluded.
The New Mexico Federal Lands Council is the trade organization representing federal allotment owners as well as the State Trust Lands lessees.