The Secretary of the Interior may establish grazing districts for lands in the public domain that are not national forests, national parks and monuments, Native American lands, or grant lands, and that are valuable for grazing and raising forage crops. [43 U.S.C. §315]

The President may transfer lands from national-forest administration to grazing-district administration, and vice versa. [43 U.S.C. §315l]

The Secretary shall establish rules to govern the occupancy and use of the grazing districts; to preserve the land and its resources from destruction or unnecessary injury; and to provide for the orderly use, improvement, and development of the range. The Secretary may study erosion and flood control to protect and rehabilitate these lands. Any willful violation of these rules is punishable by a fine of not more than $500. [43 U.S.C. §315a] A board of local stockmen shall be established in each grazing district to advise the Secretary. [43 U.S.C. §315o-1]

The Secretary may issue permits to stock owners to graze livestock on grazing district lands on annual payment of reasonable fees. The issuance of a permit does not create any right, title, or interest in or to the lands. [43 U.S.C. §315b] The statute allows free grazing on grazing district lands of livestock kept for domestic purposes. [43 U.S.C. §315d] The Secretary may lease for grazing purposes any lands that are so isolated or disconnected as not to justify their inclusion in a grazing district. [43 U.S.C. §315m]

Improvements necessary for the care and management of permitted livestock, including fences, wells, and reservoirs, may be constructed on the public lands within the grazing districts under the permits. [43 U.S.C. §315c]

The statute does not limit prior rights, or hunting or fishing rights in the grazing districts. [43 U.S.C. §315] Nor does it restrict the acquisition, granting, or use of permits, rights-of-way, or development of mineral resources in grazing district lands. [43 U.S.C. §315e] The statute does not restrict the police power of the states, and all state laws, including public health and welfare, remain at all times in full force and effect. [43 U.S.C. §315n]

The Secretary may classify grazing district or withdrawn lands that are more valuable for production of agricultural crops and may open these lands to entry and selection in accordance with the classification allowable under public-land laws, including homestead entry for tracts of fewer than 320 acres. [43 U.S.C. §315f]

The Secretary shall provide for cooperation among federal and state agencies and with stockmen for the administration, protection, and improvement of lands within grazing districts. [43 U.S.C. §315h] The Secretary may cooperate with other government departments in the coordination of range administration, particularly when the same stock grazes part time in a grazing district and part time in a national forest or other reservation. [43 U.S.C. §315k]

The money collected under the statute is to be deposited in the U.S. Treasury, except that 12.5 percent of the permit fees collected under 43 U.S.C. §315b and 50 percent of the lease fees collected under 43 U.S.C. §315m shall be paid to the state in which the grazing district or leased lands are located. [43 U.S.C. §315i] When appropriated by Congress, 33.3 percent of all grazing fees received from grazing districts on Native American lands that were ceded to the United States under the public-land laws shall be paid to the state in which the land is located, and 66.7 percent shall be deposited to the credit of Native Americans. [43 U.S.C. §315j]