Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
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529US3

Unit: $U57

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PUBLIC LANDS COUNCIL v. BABBITT

Opinion of the Court

permit holder does fail to make substantial use as authorized
in his permit for two consecutive years, the Secretary is au-
thorized to cancel from the grazing permit that portion of
permitted use that the permit holder has failed to use. See
§ 4170.1–2. On the basis of these regulations, the Secretary
has represented to the Court that “[a] longstanding rule re-
quires that a grazing permit be used for grazing.” Brief for
Respondents 43, n. 25. Suspended use, in turn, is generally
imposed by the Secretary in response to changing range con-
ditions. See supra, at 736. Permittees may also apply to
place forage in “[t]emporary nonuse” for ﬁnancial reasons,
but the Secretary must approve such nonuse on an annual
basis and may not grant it for more than three consecutive
years.
43 CFR § 4130.2(g)(2) (1998). A successful tempo-
rary nonuse application, moreover, does not necessarily take
the land out of grazing use—the Secretary may allocate
to others the forage temporarily made available via non-
renewable permit. See §§ 4130.2(h), 4130.6–2.
In short,
nothing in the change to § 4110.1(a) undermines the Taylor
Act’s requirement that the Secretary grant permits “to graze
livestock.”

43 U. S. C. § 315b.

C

The ranchers’ ﬁnal challenge focuses upon a change in the
way the new rules allocate ownership of range improve-
ments, such as fencing, well drilling, or spraying for weeds
on the public lands. The Taylor Act provides that permit
holders may undertake range improvements pursuant to (1)
a cooperative agreement with the United States, or (2) a
range improvement permit.
43 U. S. C. § 315c; see 43 CFR
§§ 4120.3–2, 4120.3–3 (1998). The pre-1995 regulations ap-
plicable to cooperative agreements gave the United States
full title to “nonstructural” improvements, such as spraying
for weeds, and to “non-removable improvements,” such as
wells.
43 CFR § 4120.3–2 (1994). But for “structural or re-
movable improvements,” such as fencing, stock tanks, or