Rangeland and Grazing
Grazing is one of the long‑standing multiple‑use activities on the Sierra National Forest. It supports local ranching families, maintains working landscapes, and coexists with wildlife habitat, recreation, and cultural resource protection. This page provides an overview of current grazing activities and explains the steps required before additional areas of the Forest can be considered for grazing in the future.
The Sierra National Forest manages a considerable range program consisting of nearly 20 cattle permittees operating across 25 active allotments totaling almost 640,000 acres.
2026 Program Update
Our current grazing work directly supports the USDA Grazing Action Plan and the national directive to expand grazing opportunities. The Forest has increased livestock numbers on active allotments, extended grazing seasons where appropriate, and initiated environmental compliance work on vacant allotments to prepare them for future use. These actions reflect national priorities to strengthen ranching operations while ensuring responsible stewardship across wildlife, cultural resources, wilderness areas, and other multiple‑use responsibilities.
Active Grazing Allotments
The Sierra National Forest currently has 25 active grazing allotments, supporting 18 permittees and covering approximately 639,000 acres. These allotments operate under established management plans that balance livestock needs with stewardship responsibilities across forest resources.
Season dates and livestock numbers are determined through a combination of annual coordination with ranchers and ongoing monitoring of conditions on the ground.
Vacant Allotments
There are 13 vacant allotments on the Forest, totaling roughly 326,000 acres.
These allotments are not available for grazing at this time because they are required, by several laws, to undergo environmental compliance before the Forest can evaluate future use.
Environmental compliance helps ensure that any potential grazing is consistent with:
- Wildlife habitat protections
- Cultural resource preservation
- Wilderness requirements
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis
This process is required before any decisions can be made about grazing operations on vacant allotments.
Work In-progress
Environmental review is currently in progress on two of the vacant allotments. This work includes wildlife habitat assessments, cultural resource surveys, and other required steps. Completion of this review is expected in early 2027.
The Forest has also developed plans to complete compliance work on the remaining vacant allotments. These plans lay out the types of surveys and evaluations needed and help the Forest sequence work across the landscape.
Updates on this work will be posted as progress is made.
Working with Ranching Partners
The Forest works closely with permittees to understand operational needs and how grazing activities fit within broader land management responsibilities.
Recent outreach included meetings and a survey of active permittees. Feedback from ranchers helped the Forest:
- Identify opportunities to adjust season dates on active allotments
- Understand interest in potential use of vacant allotments once compliance is complete
- Prioritize work based on where interest is highest
Partnership with ranchers remains an important part of managing grazing on the Sierra National Forest.
Balancing Use and Stewardship
Grazing is one of several uses on the Sierra National Forest, alongside recreation, timber, wildlife conservation, and cultural resource protection. Environmental compliance helps ensure that decisions about grazing are aligned with laws designed to protect water quality, threatened species, archaeological sites, and wilderness areas.
As compliance work is completed, the Forest will consider how grazing fits into the broader management of each allotment.
Future Updates
The Sierra National Forest will continue to share updates on grazing activities and environmental compliance work, especially as the first two vacant allotments reach major milestones in 2027.
Additional opportunities for public engagement or comment will be posted when available.
Contact
For questions about grazing on the Sierra National Forest:
Please contact your local Ranger District Office:
Bass Lake Ranger District
Phone: (559) 877-2218