Andy Kerr

Conservationist, Writer, Analyst, Operative, Agitator, Strategist, Tactitian, Schmoozer, Raconteur

grazing right

A Federal Public Lands Grazing “Right”: No Such Animal

One of my obsessions in life is to disabuse any and all that holders of permits (or leases) to graze livestock of the federal public lands have a “right” to do so....  Federal grazing permits/leases do not convey “grazing rights” on federal public lands. Grazing permits issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service allow the permit/lease holder the privilege to use publicly owned forage on federal public lands. The permits do not confer a right to permittees/lessees to graze public lands.... If the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management revokes or does not renew a federal grazing permit or lease, it is not a [constitutional] “taking.” The withdrawal of a giving is not a taking.

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