49% of Wyoming is federal land.  Much of the public ground in Wyoming is in the western portion of the state. 

Teton County is 98% federal, while Goshen county is 2.5% federal land.

A substantial portion of the public land in Wyoming is grazed by ranchers who hold a federal grazing permit which allows a ranch to graze federal land during a certain period of time, with a certain number of animals.

Federal grazing permits are administered by either the Forest Service or Bureau of Land management.

Agency range specialists administer the terms and conditions of the permit, and monitor the use of the grazing land by the permittee.

More and more, grazing permittees are stepping forward to partner with the agency land manager to monitor the state of their grazing permit.

Called Cooperative Permittee Monitoring, these teams of permittees and agency managers are working together to set objectives for the land, and actively managing their grazing to achieve those objectives.

Working together in a positive relationship to set and achieve common ecological objectives is truly a great exhibition of stewardship of Wyoming’s federal lands.

From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I’m Eric Peterson.