Rangeland Health

The overall goal of the BLM's rangeland management program is to ensure the health and productivity of public rangelands for the use and enjoyment of current and future generations.

To achieve desired conditions on the public lands, the BLM uses rangeland health standards and guidelines, developed in the 1990s with input from citizen-based resource advisory councils (RACs) across the West.

• Standards describe specific conditions needed for public land health, such as the presence of streambank vegetation and adequate canopy and ground cover. 
   
• Guidelines are the management techniques designed to achieve or maintain healthy public lands, as defined by the standards. This may include seed dissemination and periodic rest, or deferment, from grazing in specific allotments during critical growth periods. 
   

Featured Video

In early November 2015, BLM began using rangeland drills to start the stabilization and rehabilitation of land burned by the Soda Fire. The fire consumed about 280,000 acres before it was contained in August 2015, affecting both western Idaho and eastern Oregon.