The federal government’s public-lands grazing system gives private livestock operators access to more than 370,000 square miles of public land across the American West – a system propped up by subsidies that benefits billionaires, mining companies and corporate interests, according to reporting by High Country News and ProPublica, with support from the Fund. For more than a year, the team pored over data gleaned from 100 public records requests. The outlets litigated to obtain some of the documents. The team visited grazing lands in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Nevada. Their reporting found that federal oversight of the program has dwindled in recent years, as legal loopholes, staffing shortages and political pressure hobble the federal agencies that oversee public-lands ranching. Meanwhile, grazing does significant damage to land health, water resources and wildlife across the West, according to government data.
Public-lands grazing program benefits billionaires, amid poor federal oversight and a negative impact on Western states, grantee finds
