made it incredibly hard to manage this abundant apex predator. Mexican gray wolf populations have skyrocketed in New Mexico and Arizona, and rural communities along with ranchers are feeling the negative economic impacts of the inability to effectively manage the species. According to a cooperative campaign,“ Wolves Among Us,” Catron County, New Mexico, alone saw more than 77 reported head of cattle( bulls, cows, yearlings, calves) confirmed as Mexican wolf depredations, and the market value of those livestock was $ 169,400 based on the market value of a cow.
The House Natural Resources Committee also moved important pieces of legislation through committee in response to NCBA’ s call for Congress to alleviate burdens for producers. The committee marked up the Black Vulture Relief Act of 2025 and advanced Rep. Harriet Hageman’ s( R-WY) Grizzly Bear State Management Act. Both bills are a commonsense approach to alleviate years of burdens that livestock producers have faced as the federal government has failed to manage these species.
NCBA also continues pushing for the Black Vulture Relief Act, which would allow a cattle producer to“ take”( capture, kill, disperse or transport) black vultures that pose a risk to livestock. Additionally, the bill reduces permitting burdens and red tape by instituting a simple report that producers submit once per year detailing the number of black vultures they took. Streamlining the system and lifting the cap on the number of black vultures producers can take is a commonsense approach to managing a fully recovered, aggressive predator species. We will continue to engage with the House Natural Resources Committee and work to enact these important bills.
Public Lands Grazing and Wildfire
NCBA was also incredibly supportive of the Resiliency Ranching and Natural Conservation Health( RANCH) Act, introduced in the Senate by U. S. Senators Jim Risch( R-ID) and John Barrasso( R-WY) and in the House by Rep. Celeste Maloy( R-UT). This bill promotes resilient, healthy rangelands and effective grazing management across the West by establishing a streamlined approach to use vacant allotments during natural disasters, increasing the use of targeted grazing to reduce wildfire risk, and increasing funding for rangeland resiliency projects. When the bill was first introduced, NCBA and our partners also secured important language that would extend the period of grazing permits / leases from 10 to 20 years, when certain conditions are met. Together, these provisions will provide a stronger base to utilize forage on federal lands that feed approximately 60 % of the western cattle herd at some time during their life.
Adding one more to a long list of legislative highlights, NCBA celebrated the introduction of the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development( SPEED) Act by House Natural Resource Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman( R-AR) and Rep. Jared Golden( D-ME). The SPEED Act will modernize National Environmental Policy Act( NEPA) regulations to streamline the current NEPA permitting process, not just for ranchers across the West, but also for roads, bridges and other key infrastructure projects across the country. The SPEED Act would cement the changes we’ ve already seen made by the administration, ensuring better permitting processes long into the future.
After another challenging wildfire season, the need to have improved land management across the country has never
DIRECTIONS 2025 been more evident. In June, Secretary Rollins announced the rescission of the long-reviled 2001 Roadless Rule, which imposed sweeping restrictions on nearly 59 million acres of National Forest System land and has resulted in increased wildfire risk in the last 25 years. This long-overdue action aligns with President Trump’ s Executive Order 14192, aimed at reducing regulatory burdens and empowering local decision-making. For ranchers and land managers, this change means greater flexibility to undertake essential management activities such as road construction, thinning and timber harvest which are vital for reducing wildfire risks. Given nearly half of the affected acres are located in high fire risk zones, this policy shift is a welcome development for the West.
Additionally, this summer, President Trump signed another Executive Order directing the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to work on streamlining their wildfire programs. With public lands ranchers holding federal grazing permits on both Forest Service land( under the Department of Agriculture) and Bureau of Land Management land( under the Department of the Interior), cooperation and efficiency between these two agencies is critical for protecting federal lands. This is a step in the right direction to get producers relief in times of need. NCBA is working with both departments to make sure this coordination increases the country’ s capacity to fight wildfires coast-to-coast.
For producers who are affected by wildfires, NCBA was pleased with the announcement that Emergency Livestock Relief Program( ELRP) payments to cattle producers who suffered qualified losses from drought and wildfire will be delivered without requiring a separate application. Instead, data already on file with USDA will be used to identify which producers are eligible for payments. This removes bureaucratic red tape and ensures payments are issued quickly. Questions regarding eligibility should be directed to local Farm Service Agency offices.
Transportation
NCBA supported the withdrawal of the speed limiter rule by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration( FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration( NHTSA), two agencies under the U. S. Department of Transportation. NCBA has partnered with organizations like the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Association( OOIDA) to raise concerns with this proposed rule. NCBA has recognized that adding another piece of government-mandated technology to trucks will make them less prepared to adjust to road conditions and would make the roads less safe. NCBA still supports the DRIVE Act to prevent this dangerous speed limiter mandate from being proposed in the future. We thank Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and the leadership of FMCSA and NHTSA for withdrawing this proposed rule.
To protect our members, NCBA supported the passing of the Hauling Exemptions for Livestock Protection( HELP) Act introduced by Rep. Jeff Hurd( R-CO). This legislation supports livestock haulers by protecting them from burdensome hours of service( HOS) and electronic logging device( ELD) mandates. The HELP Act codifies HOS and ELD exemptions issued by FMCSA for about two years during the pandemic. Since then, America’ s livestock haulers have been burdened by HOS rules again, but this legislation would reinstate permanent exemptions, providing the flexibility necessary to safely transport livestock.
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