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Political Clout Helps Ranchers Dodge Oversight of Public Lands Grazing — ProPublica

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Thank you for your interest in republishing this story. You are free to republish it so long as you do the following: ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. In late 2019, a pair of Montana ranchers got in trouble with the Forest Service, which oversees the federal lands where they had a permit to graze their cattle. Agency staff had found their cattle wandering in unauthorized locations four times during September of that year. The agency also found some of their fences in disrepair and their salt licks — which provide cattle with essential minerals — too close to creeks and springs, drawing the animals into those habitats. After repeated calls, texts and letters, the Forest Service sent the ranchers a “notice of noncompliance,” according to

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches , a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Reporting Highlights Powerful Friends: Well-placed allies, from U.S. senators to county officials, give ranchers leverage against regulators. They’ve sometimes pushed for fewer consequences for rule breakers. Chilling Regulators: Multiple current or former BLM and Forest Service employees told us that ranchers’ influential allies make enforcement of grazing regulations politically fraught. The

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