Defenders of Wildlife Raises Concerns Over Proposed BLM Rule That Would Roll Back Land Health and Grazing Safeguards

Defenders of Wildlife today submitted comments on the Bureau of Land Management's proposed livestock grazing regulations, urging that healthy public lands and robust public participation in land management must be a priority.

"The Bureau of Land Management must strike a careful balance between livestock grazing and wildlife conservation, watershed health, recreation and other resources in its regulations," said Maddy Munson, senior policy and planning specialist at Defenders of Wildlife. "The proposed regulations weaken the framework used to monitor and evaluate land health instead of strengthening it, making it harder for managers to efficiently identify problems early and course-correct before damage becomes permanent. Further, shutting out scientists, conservation groups and the general public from having a say in decisions that impact public lands is dangerous and flat-out wrong."

The BLM manages roughly 245 million acres of public land nationwide - about one in 10 acres in the United States - including habitat for more than 300 threatened and endangered species, and thousands of additional sensitive and rare species. Livestock grazing occurs on a significant share of that land, roughly 155 million acres. Myriad wildlife, from sage grouse to native trout and desert tortoises to pygmy rabbits and pronghorn, rely on these public lands remaining healthy and intact.

On May 12, 2026, BLM announced a proposed revision to the regulations governing livestock management in the lower 48 states. The proposed revision could have significant implications for native wildlife. In response, Defenders submitted input to the agency on these proposed regulations as well as XX of our members and supporters.

In its comment letter, Defenders communicated top-level concerns about the proposed land health and grazing regulations. These concerns include:

• Weakened land health monitoring and adaptive management framework. The proposal weakens BLM's land health framework that serves as the agency's primary way of periodically evaluating the condition of public lands and course-correcting where lands are found to be degraded. Strengthening this framework is crucial given BLM's own data demonstrates that roughly half of assessed grazing allotments are in degraded condition. One essential way for BLM to strengthen the framework is to require land health evaluations at least every 10 years followed by corrective actions that, based on scientific understanding, would return the degraded landscapes to a healthier condition. This must include adjusting livestock grazing when monitoring shows it contributing to habitat damage or other land health failures; however, the proposal "aims to decouple management for land health from actions on BLM [grazing] permits."
• Reduced transparency and public participation. The proposal deliberately makes it very hard for members of the public - for instance, people who live in affected communities, scientists and non-profit organizations - to participate in decision-making processes that affect livestock grazing. The proposal also does not provide for public participation in the land health framework.. For example, BLM is not obligated to notify or engage the public in establishing land health standards, conducting land health assessments and evaluations or identifying corrective actions.
• Production-Oriented Livestock. BLM is also proposing to restrict grazing permits to only "production-oriented" livestock operators, sidelining ranchers and land stewards who manage their operations with conservation values in mind. This promotes maximizing commodity production and disrupts the careful balance between livestock grazing and wildlife conservation, watershed health, recreation and other public land values and uses.

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For nearly 80 years, Defenders of Wildlife has worked to protect and restore America's wildlife at risk of extinction, advancing a vision of a future in which wildlife thrives, sustained by broad public support and a resilient network of healthy lands and waters. With a network of more than 2 million supporters, Defenders is an advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard wildlife for generations to come. To learn more, please visit https://defenders.org/newsroom or follow us on Instagram @defendersofwildlife.

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