Flexibility in Livestock Grazing Management
National Headquarters
Washington, DC 20240
United States
4120 (220) P
This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides guidance on incorporating grazing management flexibility into grazing authorizations (permits or leases).
Mission Related
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) may authorize grazing permittees and lessees the flexibility to adjust their livestock grazing use to accommodate yearly fluctuations in forage production or to meet specific ecological or resource outcomes. Grazing flexibility on the ground can take many forms to help achieve or make progress towards land health standards, in accordance with 43 CFR 4180.2 (2005), for example, adjusting season of use and livestock numbers to meet a specific resource outcome. Outcome based grazing (OBG) is a tool that uses a variety of flexible practices to help meet a resource outcome. Flexibility can be incorporated through the terms and conditions of a grazing permit or lease or in an allotment management plan (AMP), or its functional equivalent, in accordance with 43 CFR 4120.2 (2005).
Flexibility and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
The environmental effects of proposals to incorporate grazing management flexibility into permits and leases must be evaluated under NEPA. Management alternatives considered in a NEPA document that include flexibility should identify the objectives and monitoring that will indicate when adjustments are appropriate, and ensure progress is measured toward achieving the objectives. When evaluating an alternative that would allow permittees and lessees flexibility to adjust their grazing use, the BLM should consider how the alternative may enable more timely and responsive adjustments to grazing practices to address changing conditions and achieve resource and operational outcomes. If the BLM selects such an alternative, its grazing decision should include the terms and conditions allowing for flexibility, after which the BLM would generally not need to take further actions to implement these terms and conditions.
Consultation, cooperation, and coordination (CCC)
When developing flexible terms and conditions, the BLM must complete CCC with permittees, affected state agencies, other landowners in the affected allotments, and interested members of the public, as defined in 43 CFR 4100.0-5. The BLM may complete this CCC with all parties simultaneously or in separate meetings and should include consideration of whether proposed grazing flexibility is the right fit for the grazing operation. Throughout this process, the BLM should consult with the Solicitor’s Office to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, including the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
In some cases, the flexible terms and conditions themselves may require additional coordination. For example, they may require that the permittee or lessee inform the BLM beforehand of their intent to adjust the grazing use or that the parties communicate and coordinate with each other when making the adjustments to meet resource objectives.
The BLM should document the method to communicate the thresholds used for adjusting livestock grazing use either in the cooperative monitoring plans, permit compliance documentation, the terms and conditions of the grazing permit or lease or through other types of documentation. Permittees and lessees should also document adjustments they make under flexible terms and conditions in the annual grazing schedule (Form 4130-001), and at the end of the grazing year in the actual grazing use report (Form 4130-005).
CCC with other partners
The BLM coordinates with permittees and lessees who have requested that land owned or managed by private individuals, states, or other federal agencies be included within a BLM grazing management plan. Whether to include or maintain other land in the management plan for grazing is at the discretion of the BLM and the permittee or lessee. Incorporating or integrating other lands into a management plan has the potential to increase the opportunities to exercise flexibility to adjust grazing use in a way that balances the needs of the permittee’s or lessee’s operation with the needs of other resource uses, including wildlife. If grazing on private lands is to be integrated into a management plan, the BLM should also coordinate with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service to determine the appropriate extent of its participation in development of an integrated plan.
Reporting in Rangeland Administration System (RAS)
When management flexibility is included in an AMP or its functional equivalent,[1] the BLM should document the implementation of that flexibility through the RAS.
[1] An AMP functional equivalent is an activity plan developed by another agency or permittee that prescribes grazing management and is approved by the authorized officer, or a plan developed by the BLM for other activities that also includes grazing management prescriptions, such as an integrated fuels management plan or sage grouse plan.
This IM is effective immediately.
Incorporating grazing management flexibility into a grazing permit may involve increased coordination, as compared to standard permit processing, especially when developing an AMP. The extra coordination will include identifying the issue(s) that need to be addressed, types of actions that may be taken (responses), circumstances for exercising the flexibility (thresholds), and developing the monitoring plan to ascertain whether the flexibility is consistent with resource and operational objectives. While there may be no direct monetary impacts, the additional time needed to develop alternatives that include grazing management flexibility may impact other Bureau operations.
In the past, the BLM relied on 43 CFR 4120.2(a)(1)-(4) to incorporate flexibility into AMPs (or the functional equivalent thereof) by allowing for adjustments in, for example, the number of livestock or season of use to respond to temporary changes in conditions outside the control of the BLM and permittee or lessee. Flexibility in livestock grazing management is consistent with the broader Departmental Manual for Adaptive Management (522 DM 1 effective 9/28/2023) and Environmental Statement Memorandum on Coordinating Adaptive Management and NEPA analyses. The BLM initiated 11 OBG demonstration projects in 2018 and will continue to share the knowledge and experience gained from those projects.
This IM updates and supplements information contained in Handbook 4120-1 (Rel. 4-73, June 20, 1984) regarding the use of flexibility in managing livestock grazing on public lands managed by the BLM and updates expired WO IM 2018-109, Flexibility in Livestock Grazing Management. The IM is intended to provide guidance until a permanent IM, or 4120-1 Handbook revision is completed.
If you have questions, please contact Justin Shirley at jshirley@blm.gov, Rangeland Management Specialist or Kimberly Hackett at khackett@blm.gov, Senior Natural Resource Specialist.
This IM was developed in coordination with State Range Leads, National Operations Center, Resources and Minerals Committee, Department of the Interior Solicitor’s Office, and Headquarters.