Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** How wealthy ranchers profit from public lands with declining oversight
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Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Cattle grazing in the Oregon Canyon Wilderness Study Area, BLM Oregon and Washington via Flickr ([link removed])
In a joint investigation, High Country News ([link removed]) and ProPublica ([link removed]) explore the evolution of the grazing system on national public lands over the past century. The investigation found that what started as a program to control over-grazing during the Dust Bowl has evolved into a program that subsidizes private, often wealthy, ranchers through grazing fees that have remained unchanged since the 1970s, along with other taxpayer-funded subsidies including disaster assistance, discounted crop insurance, and other funding.
These benefits are increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few: Currently, ten percent of ranchers control two-thirds of grazing allotments on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, and half of the grazing allotments on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands. Ranchers are not the only ones benefitting from discounted grazing; mining companies hold grazing permits on millions of acres of public lands as a way to exert greater control over the land surrounding their mines.
Meanwhile, environmental oversight of grazing on national public lands has steadily declined. The BLM and USFS are supposed to review grazing permits every ten years before renewing them, but a law passed in 2014 also requires the agencies to automatically renew permits if they are not able to complete the required reviews. In the decade since that law's passage, the number of agency staff conducting those reviews has declined sharply. Over that same timeframe, the percentage of BLM land that had grazing approved without environmental review increased from 47 percent in 2013 to 75 percent ten years later.
Fewer staff also means less on-the-ground monitoring, enabling bad actors to run more cattle for longer than they should and in places where they're not allowed. The result is degradation of national public lands; the majority of BLM grazing allotments either failed their most recent land health assessments, or have never been assessed.
** Quick hits
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Opinion: Western senators cannot support this Trump nominee who wants to liquidate public lands
Denver Post ([link removed])
Trump’s pick to head BLM isn’t exactly pro-public lands
Meateater ([link removed])
Interior proposals prioritize energy over endangered species
Mountain Journal ([link removed])
Trump admin drops 'renewable' and 'energy' from name of National Renewable Energy Lab
Colorado Sun ([link removed]) | Denver Post ([link removed])
Inside Wyoming’s fight against cheatgrass, the ‘most existential, sweeping threat’ to Western ecosystems
WyoFile ([link removed])
A drying Great Salt Lake is spewing toxic dust. It could cost Utah billions
Grist ([link removed])
How Indigenous cultural burns can help heal climate-ravaged forests—and people
Living on Earth ([link removed])
Durango couple completes latest adventure to document America’s public lands
Durango Herald ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” Steve Pearce’s nomination is a referendum on whether Congress believes our shared lands still belong to all Americans. The Stewardship Caucus and every senator who claims to care about the West’s outdoor heritage should reject Pearce’s nomination.”
—Aaron Weiss, Center for Western Priorities, Denver Post ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
When winter comes around, it brings the opportunity to experience public lands in a whole new way. But colder weather can present its own set of risks and can make your trip challenging if you are unprepared. ❄️
Before you visit, remember:
❄️ Park and monument closures are common during the winter – check the website beforehand.
❄️ Always check the weather forecast on the day of your trip.
❄️ Be realistic about the difficulty of traveling and recreating in the winter.
Photo @sequoiakingsnps ([link removed]) by Zach Kunselman
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