We’re Calling Out Agency Neglect

One way the U.S. government can improve the health of our public lands is to make sure the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages public lands for the benefit of all Americans, not just the livestock industry. 

That is one conclusion from PEER’s 2024 analysis of the health of BLM lands using BLM’s own land health records. Through multiple public record requests, PEER gathered the agency’s data from 1997 through 2023, from each state and every field office. PEER plotted the data from 21,000 allotments on one interactive map.

The results reveal a widespread and systemic neglect of land management by BLM, with livestock grazing identified as the most frequently cited cause of range failure.  

Improving rangeland health is critical to addressing habitat and species loss and to help mitigate the impacts of climate change. That is why PEER and our partners are suing BLM in federal court for its widespread delinquency in completing environmental assessments, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, and addressing resource damage caused by overgrazing across vast stretches of the American West. 

In the coming months, we will also step up our efforts to push BLM to operate its land health program in a more transparent manner and ensure that agency staff have the resources to carry out their difficult mission. 

Onward,
Tim Whitehouse
Executive Director

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Kathy Voth, founder, editor, and publisher of On Pasture, talks about the difficult job of BLM range managers in light of a story in High Country News about on PEER’s recent report on land health in the West. Read more>>