Ranching Without Red Tape Act of 2025
Ranching Without Red Tape Act of 2025 aims to streamline how ranchers with federal grazing permits can carry out small, routine improvements on public lands. The bill would require regulations within a year that allow permit holders to perform minor range improvements (such as upgrades to fences, wells, water lines, and stock tanks) after giving at least 30 days’ notice to the relevant federal land manager. If the managing official approves the proposal or does not respond within that 30-day window, the improvement can proceed, and federal agencies would expedite implementation, potentially using streamlined tools including categorical exclusions under NEPA. The act covers both Forest Service grazing permits on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management grazing permits, with parallel requirements for each agency. Overall, the bill is designed to reduce bureaucratic delays in making small, routine range improvements, shifting some routine decisions from senior agency officials to the district or field/ranger level, and to the extent approved, accelerate project execution on the ground.
Key Points
- 1Allows permittees with USFS grazing permits to carry out minor range improvements after notifying the district ranger at least 30 days in advance; the district ranger may approve or not respond (non-response acts as approval).
- 2Requires the Forest Service to respond to a covered request within 30 days; if approved, the agency must notify the district office and expedite the work using available tools, including categorical exclusions.
- 3Creates a parallel framework for BLM grazing permits: permit holders must notify the appropriate district/field manager 30 days prior; managers may approve or not respond; the Secretary of the Interior, via the State Director, must respond within 30 days and then expedite the improvement if approved.
- 4Defines minor range improvements to include upgrades to existing fences, wells, water pipelines, and stock tanks; references consistent CFR definitions for grazing permits and range improvements.
- 5Requires the agencies to issue implementing regulations within 1 year of enactment, establishing how minor range improvements will be permitted and processed.