Takeaways

• A national monument designation can leave ranchers in limbo for years. Chris Heaton explains how a 2023 proclamation listing drainages and grasslands as protected "objects" left his family unable to get straight answers on maintaining stock ponds or adding new water improvements.
• The Heatons' federal lawsuit with Pacific Legal Foundation was dismissed for lack of standing, but they are weighing a refile or an appeal, and their bigger goal is to fix the Antiquities Act so no president can lock up millions of acres on their own.
• Submitting your story to the USDA lawfare portal can lead somewhere. The Heatons filled it out with low expectations and were invited to Washington, D.C., where they met with Secretary Brooke Rollins and her team and told their story at a press event and on News Nation.

Summary of the Episode

In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, host Amanda Radke welcomes back Chris and Cassie Heaton, sixth-generation cattle ranchers who live in Kanab, Utah, and run a cow-calf operation on the Arizona Strip, just north of the Grand Canyon. When they first joined the show, a federal national monument designation was putting their grazing and water rights at risk. This time they share what has happened since, from a federal lawsuit to a trip to the nation's capital.

Chris walks through how the designation unfolded, starting with public hearings in Flagstaff and Kingman in 2023 and the decision to exclude their private ground from the final monument. He explains why the proclamation worries him: it lists drainages and grasslands as objects to protect, their stock ponds sit inside those drainages, and the Department of the Interior told him that what they can and cannot do is up to interpretation. With help from Pacific Legal Foundation, the Heatons sued in February 2024. The case was recently dismissed for lack of standing, and they are now working with their legal team on whether to refile or appeal, with the ultimate goal of fixing the Antiquities Act.

After the change in administration, the Heatons submitted their story through the USDA lawfare portal, not expecting a response. At the end of June, Secretary Rollins' office invited them to Washington, and on July 1 they met with the Secretary, her team, and Representative Eli Crane, shared their story at a press event, and appeared on News Nation. Amanda shares her own experience at the White House supper honoring farmers and ranchers, and her fight against a carbon pipeline near her ranch, as she and the Heatons talk about why speaking up matters even when it is uncomfortable.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business

• Resources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org