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WEIt shouldn’t be taboo to talk about public lands ranching.
We’ve been sold a bill of goods about what it is.
This isn’t about someone’s cattle on private land. And it’s not about ranching east of the 100th meridian, where it makes more sense. What we’re talking about is private livestock grazing on public lands in the arid West—a taxpayer-funded, ecologically disastrous industry hiding behind a cowboy myth.
It’s the most widespread commercial use of our public lands. It’s propped up by federal subsidies. And it’s dominated by corporations—billionaires, multinational agribusiness, and political insiders with grazing allotments stretching across entire counties.
It’s not as flashy as a mine or a drilling rig, but it’s every bit as extractive. And the costs? Wolves. Coyotes. Grizzlies. Prairie dogs. Native trout. Sage grouse. Wild horses. Beavers. Mormon Crickets. The Endangered Species Act itself. All sacrificed for one industry’s bottom line.
And yet we’re told it’s taboo to talk about.
It’s not un-American. It doesn’t make you a tree-hugging vegan.
Here’s the truth: more than 98% of U.S. beef comes from private land and feedlots—mostly in places like Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Just 1.6% comes from cattle grazed on federal public lands in the West.
This isn’t about feeding the nation. It’s about a privileged few exploiting public land for private profit—while the public pays the price in extinction, erosion, and ecological collapse.
Grazing on public lands isn’t a right. It’s a policy choice. One made at the discretion of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
And it’s long past time we questioned it, and pushed back hard against the spin.
@westernwatersheds
