# Plain Language Summary: Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act

This bill creates a new program that lets ranchers voluntarily give up their federal grazing permits—essentially their right to graze livestock on public lands—and have the government accept those permits permanently. Once a rancher gives up a permit, the government promises never to issue a new grazing permit for that same land, meaning livestock grazing ends there for good. The program applies to federal lands managed by the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior across 16 western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

The bill puts a cap on how many permits can be retired each year through this program. The government can accept no more than 100 permits total across all 16 states annually, with no more than 25 coming from any single state. However, this limit doesn't apply to grazing allotments that were already administratively retired before this law takes effect. When a rancher gives up a permit, they lose any claim to structures and improvements they built on the land, like fences or water systems. If multiple ranchers share a grazing area and one gives up their permit, the government must reduce the total allowed livestock on that shared land to reflect the retirement.

This bill essentially gives ranchers a new option for exiting the grazing business while helping resolve conflicts over public land use. Environmental groups and conservation advocates have pushed for this tool to reduce grazing on sensitive ecosystems, while some ranchers may see it as a way to exit operations without losing their permits to forced reductions. The program is voluntary—no rancher is forced to participate—but once someone gives up a permit, that land is permanently removed from commercial livestock grazing.

Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act

Smith, Adam

Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act This bill authorizes the voluntary waiver of permits or leases for grazing on federal lands managed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior in the 16 western states (e.g., Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). If a permit or lease is waived by a permittee or lessee with the intention of permanently ending livestock grazing, the appropriate department must <ul> <li>accept and terminate, on a first-come, first-served basis, the permit or lease;</li> <li>refrain from issuing any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the permit or lease; and</li> <li>ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on the allotment covered by the permit or lease.</li> </ul> If an allotment covered by a waiver is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, the department must reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the allotment to reflect the waiver. The departments must not accept more than (1) 100 grazing permits per year, in the aggregate for all of the 16 western states; and (2) 25 grazing permits for land located in whole or in part in any individual state.