Interior sets deadlines to expand grazing and review suspended AUMs
A new Interior Department order puts federal land managers on a schedule to identify additional grazing opportunities, address permit backlogs and review forage authorizations that have been suspended for years.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed Order 3454 on Oct. 27, directing a department-wide effort separate from USDA’s Forest Service grazing directive.
Within 30 days, Interior land-management bureaus must identify lands potentially available for grazing, including emergency options for displaced permittees. BLM has 45 days to issue guidance for vacant-allotment applications and 60 days to submit a permit-backlog reduction plan.
For ranchers who have lost grazing capacity, another deadline deserves attention: Within 90 days, BLM must inventory suspended animal unit months with affected permittees, including suspensions predating 1995. Within 180 days, the agency must report how many have been reinstated.
The order favors 10-year renewals for compliant permittees, subject to regulatory exceptions. It establishes no net loss of AUMs as a goal, while restoration remains subject to applicable law and range conditions.
It also directs a 15-day review of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction arrangements. Consideration of Indian agricultural lands depends on interest and consent from the tribes or individual allottees involved.
For permittees, the immediate opportunity is to put requests in writing, document previously authorized grazing and ask how the new requirements apply to their allotments.
The order does not automatically restore grazing authorizations or override federal law. Its practical value will become clearer as field offices issue guidance—and report what actually returns to the range.
Diesel climbs again adding to hauling costs
Another week, another increase at the diesel pump. The national average for on-highway diesel reached $6.352 a gallon Oct. 26, up 7.6 cents from the previous week, according to EIA’s Oct. 27 release. That adds $76 to a 1,000-gallon purchase.
Regional prices varied. Diesel averaged $6.480 in the Midwest and $6.521 in the Rockies. West Coast prices fell 6.5 cents but remained substantially higher at $7.329 a gallon.
For ranchers moving cattle, hauling hay or bringing in supplies, fuel remains a significant transportation expense. The effect on individual freight bills depends on routes, contracts and fuel surcharges.
EIA’s figures track retail highway diesel, including taxes. Farm-delivered and dyed-diesel prices will differ, but the weekly report provides a useful benchmark when planning transportation costs.
New conservation options open for grazing and feed growing operations
Producers in North Dakota and California have additional conservation practices to consider under NRCS’s Regenerative Pilot Program, with different application deadlines approaching.
In North Dakota, the agency’s Oct. 27 announcement includes annual forages for grazing systems, shelterbelts and riparian cover. Producers must apply by Nov. 13 for this funding consideration.
In California, additions include microirrigation, filter strips, hedgerows and soil-carbon amendments. The application deadline is Nov. 6.
The expanded options could help qualifying livestock and feed-growing operations address forage, irrigation and soil-management needs. Producers should contact their local NRCS office to confirm eligible acreage, practice requirements and payment terms before committing to a project.
Applying puts an operation into consideration; it does not guarantee funding or a contract.
North Dakota ranchers win challenge to checkoff board nominations
Three North Dakota ranchers have won a court ruling opening the nomination process for six seats on the state’s Beef Commission, while leaving the beef checkoff intact.
The Oct. 23 ruling strikes down provisions giving four named livestock organizations exclusive authority to nominate candidates for six of the commission’s nine seats, according to the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and reporting by the North Dakota Monitor.
Kenneth Graner, Michael Heaton and Jeremy Maher, associated with Ranchers Rights Initiative, brought the challenge.
The change applies to future appointments. The governor may consider nominations beyond those submitted by the previously designated organizations, while continuing to accept their recommendations.
The ruling does not eliminate the checkoff or change the challenged eligibility requirement barring commissioners from having received a checkoff refund during the preceding three years.
The governor’s office says the decision provides additional appointment discretion. The commission told the Monitor it was evaluating whether to appeal.
For producers, the immediate significance is broader access to nominations for a public board overseeing beef-promotion spending. The ruling does not automatically change appointment rules in other states.
Energy and mineral revenues deliver billions to states
Energy and mineral production on federal and tribal lands generated more than $21.8 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue disbursements, Interior announced Oct. 28. The department says it was the second-largest annual distribution in its history.
Of that total, $6.68 billion went to 34 states, supporting public budgets in regions where resource development contributes to schools, infrastructure and other services.
New Mexico received $5.26 billion—the largest annual disbursement ever to a state, according to Interior. The department identified a May oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico and Texas, generating more than $4 billion, as a major contributor to the year’s revenues.
Interior listed these leading state recipients:
• New Mexico: $5.26 billion
• Wyoming: $484.53 million
• Louisiana: $218.78 million
• Texas: $131.74 million
• Utah: $124.09 million
• North Dakota: $97.05 million
• Colorado: $87.60 million
• Alabama: $71.82 million
• Mississippi: $68.06 million
• California: $37.30 million
• Montana: $29.70 million
• Alaska: $28.37 million
• Nevada: $14.04 million
Another $918 million went to 33 federally recognized tribes and approximately 31,000 individual Indian mineral owners. Those distributions represent proceeds from production on Indian lands; spending decisions vary among the sovereign nations and individual recipients.
Federal distributions included $7.53 billion to the Treasury, $5.10 billion to the Reclamation Fund, $1.04 billion to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, $388 million to federal agencies and $150 million to the Historic Preservation Fund.
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue collects and distributes royalties, rents and lease bonuses, making most payments monthly.
For rural communities, the figures show the financial stakes of resource production beyond jobs at a mine or drilling site. They represent annual distributions, however, rather than a new grant program or a guarantee of funding for any particular local project.
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Words of Wisdom to start the day
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