Comment on FR Doc # 2026-09387

I am a longtime Oregonian who cares deeply about our public lands. I join the Oregon Natural Desert Association in asking you to consider the following points as you deliberate the Proposed Grazing Rule. AThe proposed changes should be accompanied by a comprehensive assessment of their environmental impact. When federal land management agencies extensively change regulations, they are required to prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that examines how the changes will affect the land, water, and wildlife of the impacted ecosystems.The proposed changes eliminate opportunities for public participation. Current policy invites any interested person to participate in each and every phase of grazing management decisions. The proposed changes all but exclude the public from an array of decisions, depriving the public of the input and collaboration essential to balancing grazing with other uses and values on public lands. The proposed changes should not allow the BLM to reintroduce livestock in sensitive habitats that are currently closed to grazing. These changes undermine decades of local collaborative decision-making that have balanced uses of public lands by protecting fragile habitats from grazing damage. The proposed changes prioritize grazing over other uses of public lands. The BLM’s own data shows that livestock grazing has already degraded millions of acres of public lands. Grazing regulations should require immediate adjustments to grazing in areas where science-based monitoring indicates that livestock are damaging habitat and ecosystems. I thank you for your careful considerations of these comments and recommendations.