With Congress not in session and President Obama away on a cozy vacation, we took some time to talk to someone who really matters – a cattleman. We caught up with Charles Lyons, a public lands rancher from a little place called Mountain Home, Idaho. According to Lyons, an active member of NCBA and the Public Lands Council (PLC), the majority of his focus when it comes to decisions made in Washington, D.C., is on public lands issues. That makes sense considering 65 percent of the cattle pasture in Idaho is owned by the federal government. Whether it’s burdensome, scientifically unfounded regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency or environmental extremists hijacking the Endangered Species Act in a shameful attempt to remove cattle grazing from public lands, Lyons points to a whole host of issues that he relies on NCBA and PLC to monitor and act on when necessary.

When asked to pinpoint the biggest challenge facing public lands ranchers, Lyons points to the misconception that public lands grazing threatens the environmental sustainability of the land. Lyons said that isn’t true. In fact, he said public lands ranchers are excellent stewards of the land.

“We do a wonderful job on the ranch. It’s fairly simple. We just harvest grass and turn it into protein,” said Lyons. “If you take pride in that and you take pride in your animals then, yeah, you’re going to be a good land manager.”