Commissioner seeks $3 million SIF appropriation for grasslands phase‑two water and fencing work

The Agriculture Department proposed a $3,000,000 appropriation from the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) to continue a grasslands grazing program begun with ARPA funds in a prior session. Commissioner Doug Goring described the request as a phase‑2 continuation of work to convert abandoned oil and gas wells into watering points, install pipelines and fencing, and otherwise improve grazing and range health on national grasslands.

"This would be the phase 2. This would wrap up and finalize all of the work that had started," Goring said, adding that initial projects began with ARPA/COVID funds roughly three years earlier and that construction season timing pushed some work into later sessions.

Committee members and witnesses described local benefits: Representative Brandenburg said the funding would be placed in a new bill section and noted the program aims to extend water distribution across extensive public grasslands. John Hilde, who testified on behalf of grazing stakeholders, told the committee the program had converted two wells and would serve many permittees across national grasslands. He cited uses that include livestock distribution, wildlife water access and emergency firefighting water supplies.

Goring said the projects primarily affect national grasslands managed under Forest Service rules; he explained that private land interspersed with federal land often cannot access USDA programs, which is why the state program was created to address gaps in water and infrastructure on intermingled lands.

Committee members asked staff to add a section to the bill for the $3 million SIF request and signaled they would discuss the proposal in further detail during continued appropriation work.