Rangeland Management
The BLM manages activities on public rangelands to ensure that that fundamental rangeland health is being sustained or improved. Each BLM State Office has worked with its citizen Resource Advisory Councils to develop State-specific standards for rangeland health and guidelines for managing livestock grazing.
The Idaho Rangeland Health Standards establish eight resource measures and 20 management guidelines needed to ensure healthy functioning of
all BLM-managed rangelands in Idaho.
As part of its mandate to manage the public lands for multiple use, the BLM permits livestock grazing on about 160 million of the 245 million acres of public land it administers nationally, in a manner aimed at achieving and maintaining rangeland health. In 2011, the BLM in Idaho authorized 832,000 AUMs of forage and fully processed 199 grazing permit renewals.
The BLM regularly monitors conditions on lands where grazing is authorized, to determine whether Rangeland Health Standards are being met. If an assessment determines that an area is not meeting standards or making significant progress toward meeting them, rangeland management staff identify adjustments or permit conditions that may be necessary, using the Rangeland Health Guidelines developed for the area.
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