The Weekend Roundup

A weekly analysis of western ranching politics brought to you by the Public Lands Council. Subscribe at publiclandscouncil.org process, the chamber was unable to move forward to any other business, such as making committee assignments, passing a rules package for the session, and other legislative priorities.

While this electoral delay may now have come to an end, the discord showcased on the chamber’s floor this week is sure to echo through key legislative debates for the next two years. With spending bills, a Farm Bill, and other environmental legislation on the agenda for this session, what was already likely to be a contentious two years (ahead of the next general election) is now guaranteed to be volatile and unpredictable.

Despite the Speaker race shenanigans, PLC was on the Hill this week meeting with the 82 new members of the House and the Senate, as well as old friends and allies in each chamber. For the first time in nearly 3 years, PLC staff were able to enter the buildings without escorts, roaming the halls and popping into offices and open houses. Many advocates remarked that it feels like we’ve returned to normal - despite the obvious disagreements over the Speaker’s gavel.

The 118th Congress promises no shortage of surprises but as always: there’s work to be done. Let’s get to it.

BLM Updates West-Wide Solar EIS on Federal Lands

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has opened a scoping process to update their Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for utilityscale solar energy development on BLM lands.

As part of this process, the BLM will update their 2012 PEIS, known as the Western Solar Plan, which covered a six-state region, as well as develop Resource Management Plan Amendments (RMPAs). The new PEIS will include at least one alternative that will expand the study area to include an 11-state region: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

In part, this scoping is driven by direction given to the agency to “authorize production of not less than 25 gigawatts of electricity generated from wind, solar, and geothermal energy” by 2025 and the emerging technologies the agency did not contemplate in 2012.

As part of the public engagement process, the BLM will host several in-person and virtual meetings. Additional meetings will be held in Phoenix, Grand Junction, Boise, Billings, Albuquerque, Bend, Salt Lake City, Spokane, and Cheyenne.

For updated dates and times and for registration information, watch this website: www.blm.gov/2023solar-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement

Written public comments must be submitted by February 6, 2023. PLC will be submitting comments. Contact Kaitlynn Glover at kglover@beef.org with any questions.

American Beef Exports to East Asia Outstanding in 2022

According to the USDA’s “U.S. Beef Exports to East Asia on a Record Pace” report, despite economic uncertainties, supply chain discontinuities, surging global food prices, and international competition, American beef exports to East Asia were outstanding in the first half of 2022, both in terms of value and volume. During the first three quarters of 2022, American beef exports to East Asia increased by 22% (around $1.2 billion in dollar terms). Exports were valued at $6.6 billion, up from $5.4 billion over the same period in 2021. Volume-wise, exports increased by 6.4%.

What prompted this unprecedented spike? According to the USDA, the increase in volume from shipments to East Asia reflects continued increases in demand for beef products in said market. The value increases also demonstrate the stability and high incomes of the East Asian middle class. American producers in the beef market should no doubt expect continued increases in exports to this rapidly growing market in the year to come.

Great Basin Bull Sale

On February 18, 2023, the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, in partnership with DKC LLC, will host the Great Basin Bull Sale. This event will allow participants to purchase bulls off test, as well as consign traditional range-ready bulls. The event will kick off with a lunch for those interested.

Attendance is FREE. Event to be held at the Rafter 3C Events Center, 325 Sheckler Road, Fallon, Nevada 89406. Lunch at Noon. Bull Sale starts at 1pm.

Sheep Market Reports

USDA/AMS Weekly National Lamb Market Summary provides up-to-the-minute data on sheep, lamb, meat, wool, pelt, and international markets here: www.sheepusa.org/resources-marketreports

On the Ground

• More often than not, there is untapped potential for win-wins between livestock production and conservation. On the other hand, it is impossible to achieve every objective everywhere, all the time. Sometimes the tradeoffs are real.

• We need to spend less time searching for general rules and more time embracing the complexity and contextdependence within rangeland science.

• Rather than writing off findings that do not fit our current worldview, we should challenge ourselves to broaden our views in ways that reconcile multiple findings or multiple truths. It is possible we are all partly or mostly right, and we just need to figure out why, how, and in what contexts.

• There is value in doing research in a way that focuses on really listening to and respecting multiple perspectives so that the results we produce not only qualify as facts, but also as truths that many people can buy into and get behind.

Introduction

Someone once told me that if you do not change your mind about something important every 10 years, you are stagnating as a human being. What you change your mind about cannot be something small. It has got to be something fundamental, something all your friends know about you. In other words, to keep growing as humans, we must transform.

In my own life and career, one of my goals has been to stay fiercely open-minded and be ready for transformation. I have always been tempted to resist categories, to zoom in at the boundaries and search for gradients and complexity. Here, I am going to tell you three stories about things I have changed my mind about in my relatively short (~15 year) career. I hope these stories will engage your curiosity or spark a discussion with your colleagues.