BLM rule changes to allow more cattle grazing on public lands in Oregon and the West

The Trump administration is rewriting Bureau of Land Management rules to increase the number of cattle and other livestock that can graze on public lands. The rules affect 155 million acres in the West, an area more than two-and-a-half times the size of Oregon. 

The BLM says the proposal “reflects the Trump administration’s priority to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, promote productive working lands and strengthen local economies.” But environmental groups have raised concerns about the effect loosening these rules would have on wildlife. And Native American tribes that manage bison anticipate impacts on their herds as well. The public comment period on the proposal closed last week.

We talk with Mark Olalde, reporter for High Country News and Propublica, about the plan and how it would affect ranching as well as wildlife and Indigenous tribes.

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