AFPI Commends USDA Ranchers-First Grazing Directive

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Friday, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a directive that has been issued to all U.S. Forest Service (USFS) employees to refocus the Service on its multiple-use mandate for USFS-managed lands.

This directive emphasizes the importance of grazing on National Forests and Grasslands, and provides clear, pointed direction to the USFS employees who work directly with our nation’s ranchers. It will help to reverse decades of bureaucratic overreach and lawfare aimed at ranchers and deliver meaningful economic support to rural communities that depend on federal land grazing.

“For centuries, American ranchers have been faithful stewards of the land, utilizing federally-managed land to feed their communities and the nation,” said Kip Tom, chair for Rural Policy at the America First Policy Institute. “The new directive represents a long-overdue shift from bureaucratic delays and regulatory hostility to partnership and common sense. I commend Secretary Rollins for putting rural Americans first.”

The actions outlined in this directive strongly advance the core pillars of AFPI’s Farmers First Agenda: driving rural prosperity, right-sizing and reorienting government, and generating responsible nutrition policy.

To read AFPI’s Farmers First Agenda, click here.