Grazing Fees: Overview and Current Issues

Carol Hardy Vincent
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy

Charging fees for grazing private livestock on federal lands is a long-standing but contentious practice. Generally, livestock producers who use federal lands want to keep fees low, while conservation groups and others believe fees should be increased. The formula for determining the grazing fee for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service uses a base value adjusted annually by the lease rates for grazing on private lands, beef cattle prices, and the cost of livestock production. The collected fees are divided among the Treasury, states, and federal agencies. Fee reform was attempted but not adopted in the 1990s. Current issues include instances of grazing without paying fees and efforts to retire certain grazing permits. This report will be updated as needed. .


Date of Report: January 27, 2010
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS21232
Price: $29.95

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