US Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins on 8 October sent a letter to every livestock rancher who holds a grazing permit on US Forest Service allotments, setting out the department's Grazing Directive of 12 June 2026 and inviting them to put it to work on their allotments.
The directive, issued by Rollins and Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Michael Boren, tells the Forest Service, within existing law and regulation, to take steps to restore at least 500,000 head months of grazing across National Forest System lands within two years. It also sets a policy of no net loss of Animal Unit Months within allotments and asks for vacant and closed allotments to be made available for grazing.
The other points in the directive cover wildfire planning, coordination and recovery, including the use of virtual fencing; quicker work under the National Environmental Policy Act; and better coordination and relations with ranchers.
USDA says the letter builds on two earlier documents: its plan of 20 October 2025 to strengthen the US beef industry, and a memorandum of understanding of 31 March 2026 on advancing grazing on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, signed by Rollins and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Together, the department says, they set out a policy to streamline and expand livestock grazing on federal land.
The scale is large. The Forest Service and the BLM manage about 240 million acres of rangeland across 28 states, used by more than 23,000 permit holders and lessees. Rollins said that restoring the country's beef and sheep herds will have to include both agencies' land.
"I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Grazing Directive as we work together to accomplish shared goals on your respective allotments," Rollins wrote. The letter also points ranchers to a new USDA Ranchers First webpage, and USDA has set up the address grazing@usda.gov for grazing concerns.
Source: USDA
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