The Public Lands Council (PLC) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote cooperative monitoring of grazing allotments on National Forest System lands. The MOU will help public lands ranchers and local Forest Service officials cooperate to collect and analyze data on rangeland health, ultimately ensuring better management of national forests and grasslands.
“As America’s original conservationists, cattle and sheep producers are stewards of millions of acres of federal land. Data is key to every decision permittees make on the landscape, and this MOU will allow permittees and the Forest Service to better share key information and strengthen the partnership between producers and agency officials,” said PLC President Mark Roeber. “The Public Lands Council is excited to join the Forest Service in this cooperative monitoring agreement and we look forward to our continued partnership on this issue.”