WASHINGTON –Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining received testimony on several bills focused on public lands management, grazing policy, wildfire mitigation, mineral development, and conservation across the West.

The Subcommittee received testimony on the following bills:

• S. 462, to provide for economic development and conservation in Washoe County, Nevada, and for other purposes (Rosen);
• S. 1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws (Cortez Masto);
• S. 1464, to withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development (Heinrich);
• S. 1497, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to establish the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness in the Río Grande del Norte National Monument and to modify the boundary of the Río Grande del Norte National Monument (Heinrich);
• S. 1981, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to utilize grazing for wildfire risk reduction, and for other purposes (Cortez Masto);
• S. 2417, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a special use permit with respect to the maintaining of a flagpole bearing the flag of the United States at Kyhv Peak Lookout Point, Utah, and for other purposes (Curtis);
• S. 2554, to provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes (Murkowski);
• S. 2754, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the City of Ouray, Colorado, certain land managed by the Forest Service, together with a reservoir (Bennet);
• S. 2787, to amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that ranchers who have grazing agreements on national grasslands are treated the same as permittees on other Federal land (Barrasso);
• S. 2860, to unleash United States offshore critical minerals and resources, and for other purposes (Sheehy)
• S. 2968, to ensure access to certain public land, and for other purposes (Lee);
• S. 3004, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Bureau of Land Management land to the city of Price, Utah, and for other purposes (Lee);
• S. 3082, to prohibit oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production in certain areas of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and for other purposes (Moody);
• S. 3493, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Carson City, Nevada, and for other purposes (Rosen);
• S. 3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, and for other purposes (Padilla);
• S. 3527, to release from wilderness study area designation certain land in the State of Montana, to improve the management of that land, and for other purposes (Daines);
• S. 3695, to amend Public Law 96-586 to modernize the authority of the Forest Service to acquire and administer land under that Act, and for other purposes (Cortez Masto);
• H.R. 204, to require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels reduction activities, and for other purposes (Rep. Tiffany)
• H.R. 677, to establish a process to expedite the review of appeals of certain decisions by the Department of the Interior (Rep. Hageman);
• H.R. 952, to convey the reversionary interest of the United States in certain land in Sacramento, California (Rep. Matsui);
• H.R. 1829, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, and for other purposes (Rep. Crane);
• H.R. 3872, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals (Rep. Fallon) and
• H.R. 3937, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and for other purposes (Rep. Tiffany).

Subcommittee Chairman Barrasso highlighted his legislation, S. 2787, the Grasslands Grazing Act of 2025, which provides regulatory clarity and certainty for ranchers seeking grazing permits on National Grasslands within the National Forest System.

“Livestock grazing on federal lands has a strong tradition in Wyoming and across the west. Federal grazing is a necessary tool for wildfire prevention and promoting rangeland health. It’s widely used by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management,” said Chairman Barrasso. “However, there is a lack of federal certainty and clarity on for obtaining the same on grasslands. My bill brings regulatory clarity for grazing permits from the US forest service. Ranchers across the west deserve to have certainty that their grazing permits will be approved in a timely manner.”

Ty Checketts, President of the Association of National Grasslands and a Wyoming rancher testified in favor of S. 2787. In his testimony, he emphasized the positive impact that ranchers have on federal lands. 

“Ranchers are the original conservationists. Nobody loves the land more than we do. Every day we work to protect the land, to preserve it, to make it better, to make it more sustainable.” said Ty Checketts. “Grazing protects us against wildfires that destroy our local economies and cost millions of dollars each year.”