As the state’s cattle industry and pro-agriculture politicians have taken aim at the BLM for what it sees as its pro-American Prairie decision, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has charged the federal agency has given commercial livestock grazing a pass when it comes to climate change.
PEER contended the BLM “grazing program issues some 18,000 permits covering 155 million acres, an expanse roughly equivalent to California and Oregon, combined. These lands provide forage for approximately 1.5 million cattle, which greatly decrease these lands’ ability to sequester carbon.”
