The Need to Support
By Dennis Sun
As 2025 comes to an end, those in the ranching business are looking forward to 2026, as we recognize policies implemented by President Donald Trump are changing the West for the better.
We know ranching is a challenging business, and it can be more of a challenge for those who graze on federal lands.
During the last administration, there were many policies coming out of Washington, D.C. which were not favorable to ranching.
Policies on endangered species, wild horses, public lands rules, access to grazing public lands and regulations for grazing on Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and National Grasslands were making life hard for those in the West.
I think the last administration was only interested in tying up numerous federal lands for monuments, parks and wilderness designations. Both ranchers and recreationists would lose access across these lands.
However, the bigger issue was the administration didn’t understand western states’ water and grazing issues, and they certainly didn’t understand how government overreach can hurt productive citizens. Those four years of overreach were a large threat to ranching and agriculture as a whole.
Through the good and bad, ranchers have relied on the Public Lands Council (PLC), based in Washington, D.C., to assist with lobbying and work with federal agencies, Congressional members and staffs and those in the administration, all the way up to the White House. Really, they have been our voice in the nation’s capital.
PLC has a small staff and is governed by an executive committee comprised of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and past president, along with a board of directors from 14 western states and representatives from the American Sheep Industry Association, Association of National Grasslands and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. All are western states ranchers.
PLC has 28 state partners, which are mostly state livestock associations.
It is amazing the work they accomplish in Washington, D.C., with all of the lobbying they do, along with having a daily comprehensive newsletter.
PLC also has an annual September meeting in a western town, which public lands ranchers can attend and where many federal agency personnel and Congressional members speak. There is a public lands tour to see what other ranchers are doing. It is a great time to catch up on useful information.
As many realize, it takes money to keep the doors open at PLC, and federal lands users should pay the bill, especially public lands ranchers.
Each western state has their own way of collecting funds for PLC. Here in Wyoming, we have public lands ranchers on a Wyoming PLC Board Coalition and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) assisting with an assessment sent out to public lands ranchers based on the number of cattle they graze on public lands.
The concerning factor is less than 20 percent of those who receive the assessment send in a payment. With all PLC is doing for western ranchers, they are getting a free ride, which isn’t exactly right. They need to send a check made out to Wyoming PLC to WSGA.
I would like to wish all of our readers a very happy and prosperous New Year, and thank you for your support.
