Wyoming’s Karen Budd-Falen outlines current priorities at DOI

During the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch event, held on April 28 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Solicitor for Parks and Wildlife Karen Budd-Falen of Cheyenne outlined the Trump administration’s priorities for western lands management and “restoring rancher resilience through significant policy reform.”

To begin, Budd-Falen, a fifth-generation Wyoming rancher originally from Big Piney, shared her return to DOI was motivated by a desire to ensure ag producers have a stronger voice in federal policymaking.

“The reason I left the ranch in Wyoming and came back to DOI the second time is because of the people I get to talk to every day,” she said. “Quite honestly, there hasn’t been a president who has cared about farmers and ranchers since Ronald Raegan. It wasn’t because other administration’s disliked producers, but we’ve never been the big dogs in the room. It’s time now that we are.”

Grazing reform

A major focus of Budd-Falen’s address was on recent and upcoming changes to grazing regulations on federal lands allotments.

First, she touched on DOI’s draft grazing rule, which was released on May 12 – shortly after she spoke at the event in Washington, D.C. – and noted the U.S. Forest Service is developing its own updated rule as well. 

She also pointed out DOI recently expanded categorical exclusions for projects such as pipelines, water troughs and grazing permit renewals; is working on reforming the National Environmental Policy Act process to speed up range improvements and permit renewals; is reviewing archaeological clearance requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act to reduce delays for range improvement projects and recently signed a memorandum of understanding with USDA to improve coordination between federal lands managers.

After the floor was open for questions and Budd-Falen was asked what she believes is the biggest misconception about producers grazing livestock on federal lands, she nodded to longstanding criticism that federal grazing fees are low.

“I think the biggest misconception is these are cheap or free lands and farmers and ranchers just get to use them, but nothing is further from the truth,” she said, explaining the formula for today’s federal grazing fees account for the investments ranchers make on public lands that may be otherwise overlooked.

“If you lease somebody’s private property, they take care of the fences and the water improvements,” she said. “None of this is true on federal lands. Ranchers have to do every bit of it by themselves, and when you calculate all of those additional costs into the federal lands grazing fee formula, it comes out to the same as private land lease rates.”

In addition, Budd-Falen emphasized grazing is not only economically important, it’s also beneficial to land health and wildlife habitat when properly managed, pointing to recent studies showing well-managed grazing can benefit sage grouse habitat, improve soil health, control invasive weeds like cheatgrass and help reduce wildfire fuel loads.

Wildlife management

Further, Budd-Falen discussed several hot button wildlife management issues impacting producers in the West including wolves, grizzly bears and wild horses.

When it comes to wolves, she explained management authority varies depending on region and listing status under the Endangered Species Act.

In most of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, wolves are primarily managed by the state. However, other populations, like the Mexican wolf in New Mexico and Arizona, remain federally protected.

Budd-Falen explained DOI is reviewing regulations regarding situations where wolves are causing excessive livestock loss or threatening public safety.

She also noted the department is pursuing downlisting the status of grizzly bears from endangered to threatened in some regions, along with developing a 4(d) rule to allow states more management flexibility.

She stated, “This will provide a lot of management flexibility for states so they can take a more active role in managing their own grizzly populations. This is the first step in trying to get relief to states like Wyoming and Montana where grizzly populations are over management numbers.” 

Wild horse management was also brought up during the discussion.

On this topic, Budd-Falen said DOI is developing a new rangeland health initiative focused on balancing wild horse populations with available forage and water resources during worsening drought conditions.

“When grazing, wild horses can destroy the land they’re living on. They tromp out water holes, and it’s not just bad for the land, it’s bad for the horses,” she said. “We are putting together a plan, which we should be able to release soon, based on rangeland health.” 

The plan, she explained, looks at the feasibility of conducting more gathers and using reproductive management tools, although she acknowledged the high costs associated with long-term wild horse holding facilities.

Drought and

wildfire concerns

Additionally, Budd-Falen’s discussion centered around ongoing drought conditions across the West and growing concerns over what could become a severe wildfire season.

She noted, although DOI announced $20 million for strengthening local wildfire suppression efforts in February, concern is growing this amount of funding won’t be enough.

In response, DOI is working on evaluating vacant grazing allotments and additional grazing opportunities for livestock on wildlife refuges where grazing is compatible with refuge purposes.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is going through what they call a compatibility determination of every wildlife refuge to determine if there’s some additional grazing for livestock that can occur on these refuges,” Budd-Falen explained.

She continued, “I’m afraid this is going to be a horrendous wildfire year, but we are working hard on agreements with local ranchers and fire departments so we can get fires put out faster and they don’t burn out of control.”

Whether it be livestock grazing, wildlife management or wildfire control, Budd-Falen stressed the importance of collaboration and including producers in federal lands management throughout the entirety of her address. 

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.