During the administration of President
Herbert Hoover, it became clear that federal regulation of public land use was needed to address the root causes of the
Dust Bowl. Since vast portions were used for livestock grazing, the importance of range management loomed large. The advocacy of
John Francis Deeds, chief of the Agricultural Division of the Geological Survey and deputy director of the Department's Grazing Division, was influential in bringing about the benefits of the Taylor Grazing Act. Congressman
Don B. Colton of
Utah introduced a bill to create grazing districts, but the bill failed to pass the
US Senate. In 1933,
Edward T. Taylor, a
representative from Colorado, reintroduced the Colton bill as the Taylor bill. This bill set up the grazing bureau, or service in the Department of Interior, to administer the range lands. The Grazing Service was merged with the
United States General Land Office in 1946 to form the
Bureau of Land Management. Case studies by
Phillip O. Foss on the role of local grazing advisory committees established by the Taylor Grazing Act in regulating the grazing of livestock on federal public lands found that such committees were often dominated by the same ranchers and cattlemen whose activities were supposed to be regulated, indicating that grazing regulation had been "
captured" by the regulated interests. A 2022 study found the law, which demarcated property rights, led to greater land productivity in large grazing districts in the Western US. ==Amendments to 1934 Act==