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Once the NEPA process concludes with a final EA or EIS and a decision by the agency, the process is over. Typically, the proposed action in the EA or EIS becomes the basis for the Allotment Management Plan for a term grazing permit renewal or the project plan for a range improvement. A final decision related to an EA for the US Forest Service is called a Decision Notice. For the BLM, the final decision is referred to as a Decision Record. If an EIS is required, the final decision for both agencies is called a Record of Decision.

Though the NEPA process for your grazing permit and range improvement has concluded, the process is not really over. You should continue to engage with agency staff to maintain strong relationships. You should also work with agency staff to implement and maintain a monitoring program to track the impacts and outcomes of the decision. Because most BLM and US Forest Service decisions now include adaptive management, monitoring will provide you with the data you need to adjust over time and improve management outcomes without the need for a new NEPA process. In addition, maintaining relationships and monitoring will make the next NEPA process easier for you and the agency.

If you do not submit comments during the NEPA process, for example when an EA is published but before the final decision, or when a draft or final EIS is made available for public comment before a final decision, you are not eligible to appeal. Participating in the NEPA process throughout is critical to maintain your ability to appeal once a decision is made. In addition, if you are participating in the process throughout, it is much more likely the final decision will fit with your management goals. The best option in the appeals process is to not be in a position where an appeal is needed in the first place.

The appeals process is complex. Appeals follow different procedures depending on if you are appealing a US Forest Service or BLM decision. Detailed instructions on the appeals process are available in the NEPA for Ranchers Handbook and the Federal Appeals Handbook: Guidance for Appealing Grazing Decisions. Both of these resources are available below, from the Arizona Cooperative Extension website, and at Cooperative Extension offices.

Regulations for managing public lands come from other laws, notably the Federal Land Management and Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act, the Public Rangelands Improvement Act, and the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act. When agencies implement these laws, for example by writing an Allotment Management Plan and issuing a new term grazing permit, NEPA is triggered because the implementation is a federal action. The NEPA process is used to review the impacts of the Allotment Management Plan and issuance of the grazing permit.

The Endangered Species Act interacts with NEPA in a similar way. It is particularly important because the presence of a threatened or endangered species on a grazing allotment can cause the NEPA process to shift from the shorter EA process to the longer and more detailed EIS process. There is nothing ranchers can do to avoid this, but there are things you can do to participate in the process. The Ranchers Guide to NEPA provides detailed information about how to participate in the NEPA process when endangered species are involved.

This requirement allows ranchers to get directly involved in the NEPA process in a number of different ways and at different times. The outcomes of the NEPA process for a term grazing permit renewal will affect the management of your allotment for at least 10 years. You should always make use of the opportunity to get involved in the NEPA process to ensure your interests are recognized. Agencies are required to read and respond to your comments, so they will not be ignored. Points when you can engage and how:

1. Scoping: at the beginning of an EA or EIS process, the US Forest Service will always, and the BLM will usually, have a scoping period. During this time, the public can submit comments to the agency about what the EA or EIS should include and review. This  stage is an opportunity to make sure that the EA or EIS covers all of your concerns and includes all of the data that you think are important to making a fair decision. As a result of participating in scoping, you may even be able to submit your own proposed management alternative if you do not think the agency’s proposed management plan fits your interests.
2. Informal participation: While ranchers are not a part of the team preparing an EA or and EIS, you should try to stay as informed and involved in the process as possible throughout the development of the proposed management action. Relationships with agency staff and range specialists are important. When you have a good relationship, it is easier to maintain good communication throughout the NEPA process.
3. Formal public comments: During the NEPA process, agencies are required to seek public comment. For EAs, this happens after the EA is written, but before a decision. For EISs, there are comment periods after the draft EIS is written and before a decision is made on the final EIS. You should participate in these comment periods by submitting formal comments to the US Forest Service or BLM about the contents of the EA and EIS. Your comments can be positive or negative. As much as you can, you should support your comments with data from monitoring, your management records, past Annual Operating Instructions, Cooperative Extension reports, and published reports and scientific data. 

The purpose of the NEPA process is to understand and evaluate the environmental impacts of activities carried out by the federal government. To complete the NEPA process, agencies need data to evaluate environmental impacts. Ranchers can do three things to help agencies conduct NEPA evaluations:

1. Establish good relationships with local agency personnel involved in the management of grazing allotments. The NEPA process should not be adversarial. A strong, trusting relationship between ranchers and agency staff can help the process run smoothly and ensure both the agency and permittees understand one another’s views and needs. Ranchers should look to establish these relationships before the start of a NEPA process.
2. Keep accurate records on your management. Your records can help with development of existing conditions information about your allotment. The US Forest Service or BLM will have its own records, but if you maintain accurate annual records of Annual Operating Instructions, livestock numbers, range improvements, management changes over time, etc., your records can help to fill in gaps in agency records.
3. Conduct annual monitoring. Monitoring should be carried out regularly by the US Forest Service and BLM. Participating in this monitoring is a great way to build strong working relationships with agency personnel. If the federal agencies are not conducting regular monitoring on your allotments, ask them to start. You can also conduct monitoring yourself. While monitoring takes time, it has multiple benefits. You will understand the impacts of your management better and the data can help provide an accurate picture of your allotment for NEPA.

Unlike many federal laws, NEPA is specifically designed to incorporate public participation at every step in the process. This means as a US Forest Service or BLM permittee, you can and should get involved in the NEPA process as soon as you become aware that a NEPA review is happening on your allotment. How do you know when NEPA is happening? There are two common situations when NEPA is carried out on grazing allotments:

1. When your term grazing permit is up for renewal. NEPA is typically carried out as a part of the renewal process.
2. When a range improvement project is happening on your allotment, but only if this range improvement is not included in the Allotment Management Plan that was written at the time of your last term grazing permit renewal.

If either of these things are happening on your allotment, you should contact the agency office that manages your grazing permit and ask about NEPA. If NEPA is happening or planned for your allotment, you should tell you range conservationist or another agency representative that you want to be involved. As a permittee, you should be able to comment and offer input on the purpose and need for the project, existing conditions on the allotment, and the specifics of the proposed action.

You should also not wait for a NEPA process to start developing good working relationships with agency personnel. Building trust takes time. Using opportunities outside the NEPA process to engage with and build relationships with agency personnel, for example through Annual Operating Instructions meetings and annual range monitoring, can go a long way to making the NEPA process run smoothly.

Because NEPA is a regulatory process, the US Forest Service and BLM must follow standard procedures in developing NEPA documents. Understanding these procedures will help you know what to expect throughout the NEPA process. All NEPA documents will contain the following elements:

1. Purpose and Need for Action: This is the first section of a NEPA document. It provides basic information on why a NEPA document is being prepared, e.g. to analyze the issuance of a term grazing permit.

2. Existing conditions: A review of the basic characteristics of the grazing allotment, past management, grazing history, and monitoring documentation. Annual Operating Instructions and monitoring data are important for documenting existing conditions. These documents and other data are used to identify resource management concerns, if any. Existing conditions are the context for future management. The existing conditions section may include:

- A description of the grazing allotment

- Important historical information about an allotment such as historical overgrazing or other resource management concerns that current and future management must address

- Past management actions and their success

- Factors that have influenced the success or failure of past management

- Summary of past monitoring data

3. Proposed Action: Typically, grazing permit renewals and range improvement projects require only an Environmental Assessment, or EA, a more limited form of analysis. An EA requires documentation of only the proposed action. If a more extensive Environmental Impacts Statement, or EIS, is needed, multiple alternative actions will be described. In Arizona, proposed actions will typically include provisions for Adaptive Management, an approach that allows for adjustment over time to address emerging challenges.

4. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: An analysis of the likely environmental effects of issuance of a grazing permit or implementation of a range improvement. If the analysis in an EA determines that there are likely significant impacts, then an EIS must be prepared.

5. Supporting Documents and Compliance Information: Scientific studies cited in the analysis, monitoring data, endangered species compliance, archeology compliance, etc.