Senator Barrasso introduced Ty before the Senate ENR Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee, welcomed Newcastle, Wyoming rancher Ty Checketts to testify on the importance of federal grazing rights at a subcommittee hearing this week.

Mr. Checketts, who is also the Association of National Grasslands President, endorsed Senator Barrasso’s Grasslands Grazing Act. The legislation will ensure ranchers who have grazing permits on National Grasslands are treated the same as permittees on other federal land, such as National Forests and Bureau of Land Management allotments.

Senator Barrasso introduced Mr. Checketts to the committee prior to his testimony.

“I am honored to introduce Mr. Ty Checketts. Ty is the President of the Association of National Grasslands and a Wyoming native from Newcastle. His wonderful wife Becky has also joined him this morning,” said Barrasso. “Ty ranches on his family operation where they run 1,000 head of Black Angus on about 65,000 acres of both public and private land. He is also a member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Ty also holds a seat on the board of the Public Lands Council and is a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Ty – I am grateful that you are here today and thank you for representing ranchers across the U.S.”

During the hearing, Barrasso highlighted how the Grasslands Grazing Act will give Wyoming ranchers like Ty the certainty they need that their grazing permits will be approved in a timely manner.

“In Wyoming, cattle graze on the Thunder Basin National Grassland. It encompasses a little over half a million acres. My bill helps bring regulatory clarity for grazing permits from the U.S. Forest Service,” said Barrasso. “Ranchers across the West depend on access to grazing on our National Grasslands. They deserve to have certainty that their grazing permits will be approved in a timely manner. The Grasslands Grazing Act will give Wyoming’s ranching families the stability they need to keep their operations running strong.”

Click here to watch Mr. Checketts’ remarks.

In his testimony, Checketts talked about how ranchers in the West depend on access to grazing rights on National Grasslands.  

“Without the ability to graze on National Grasslands, there would not be enough forage for my livestock, nor enough private land to access additional forage, to be able to ranch in Wyoming. Many Western and midwestern states are in the same situation – the federal government owns or controls so much of these states that integrating federal lands grazing allotments is the only way to have cattle and sheep production at scale,” said Checketts. “This access must be predictable and consistent, which unfortunately has not been the case for grazing associations and direct permittees whose authorizations emanate from the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937.”

Checketts went on to endorse S. 2787, the Grasslands Grazing Act, and urged the committee to support it.

“The proposed legislation simply seeks to give National Grasslands permittees the same due process rights that the Bureau of Land Management and National Forest permittees currently enjoy. S. 2787 will provide for stable and secure ten-year grazing agreements and permits. The modification sought by this legislation will, in fact, create a more uniform, equitable and less confusing framework for the relationship between the Forest Service managers and their rancher partners across the western portion of the United States. I thank you for your consideration and urge the Committee to advance this bill,” continued Checketts.

You can read Checketts’ entire committee statement here, and listen to Senator Barrasso’s questions here.

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