Committee hears bill to study regenerative grazing and grasslands carbon research center

Senate Bill 2246 would fund a legislative management study and hire a consultant to evaluate the feasibility and desirability of creating a regenerative grazing or grasslands research center focused on carbon flux and management.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Senator Tim Mathern, told the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee that the measure is intended to bring experts and stakeholders together before large appropriations are made. "I think it's time to study an issue before investing in it," Mathern said, adding the bill sets a modest appropriation below the threshold that would trigger an Appropriations Committee referral.

The study described in the bill would examine how grazing management affects carbon capture and other rangeland outcomes and would invite testimony from a range of entities including the Natural Resources Conservation Service, North Dakota State University and regional grasslands researchers. "Let's not put all the money into hiring a lot of organizations. Let's put some…