Imagine investing $100 million in land, infrastructure, and environmental restoration—only to be told years later that the federal government has changed its mind and your permit no longer counts. That is not a business risk. It is a failure of the rule of law.
Federal permitting reform is usually framed as a question of efficiency: why do approvals take so long, and how can agencies move faster? But recent bipartisan permitting talks have surfaced that the problem is not just efficiency but also certainty. Even when permits are issued, the government often retains broad discretion to pull them back, grinding projects to a halt and stranding investments. Rather than providing the security of property rights or an enforceable contract, federal permits can be more of a promise from one whose fingers are crossed behind their back.
This reality was recently on display in a case far removed from the infrastructure and energy projects that are the usual grist of permitting reform talks. Last month, the Bureau of Land Management canceled permits allowing American Prairie to graze bison on federal land in central Montana. American Prairie is a conservation group that purchases private ranches from willing sellers and raises native, privately-owned bison.
