PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Oct 17, 2025
Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act of 2025
This bill authorizes the voluntary waiver of permits or leases for grazing on federal lands managed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior in the 16 western states (e.g., California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Washington). If a permit or lease is waived by a permittee or lessee with the intention of permanently ending livestock grazing on the grazing allotment (or a portion of the allotment), the appropriate department must
accept and terminate, on a first-come, first-served basis, the permit or lease;
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
refrain from issuing any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the permit or lease; and
ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on the allotment covered by the permit or lease.
If an allotment covered by a waiver is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, the department must reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the allotment to reflect the waiver.
The departments must not accept more than (1) 100 grazing permits per year, in the aggregate for all of the 16 western states; and (2) 25 grazing permits for land located in whole or in part in any individual state.
People & committees
Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] · D–WA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Oct 20, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.5785 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.5785 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.5785 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.5785 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.