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Abstract
Lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are an important source of livestock grazing for many ranching operations in the Western United States. There are currently more than 22,000 authorized federal grazing permits representing 15.7 million animal unit months (AUMs) of grazing. Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming are examples of western states where many ranches are dependent on federal grazing. The combined total for the three states is 5,389 federal grazing permits, representing 5.6 million AUMs of grazing. In recent years, the use of federal lands for livestock grazing has become increasingly controversial with some organizations calling for the complete removal of all livestock grazing from public lands. The purpose of this analysis is to estimate the economic impact of removal of federal grazing by cattle on the combined Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming economy. The net effect of removal of federal cattle grazing in the three-state area is estimated to be a loss of $186.2 million in direct economic impact, and a reduction of $560.5 million in total economic impact. These impacts equate to a loss of more than 4,000 jobs and decreased labor income of $205.4 million annually. Due to the cumulative nature of the impact, these negative effects are expected to continue for many years into the future if federal grazing is removed. The analysis indicates that removing federal cattle grazing would have significant negative economic impact on the three-state area, particularly on many rural counties that have sensitive economies due to their dependency on agricultural production and limited alternative employment opportunities.