FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:                        Heather Vaughan, 202-347-0228 or hvaughan@beef.org                                     Bethany Shively, 202-347-0228 or bshively@beef.org     PLC Hosts 2009 Spring Legislative Conference WASHINGTON (March 25, 2009) –– The Public Lands Council (PLC) is hosting its Spring Legislative Conference today and tomorrow in Washington, DC. During the conference, PLC members from across the country will have the opportunity to meet with agency and congressional representatives to discuss issues of concern to our nation’s livestock ranchers.   “We’re looking forward to sitting down with our lawmakers in Washington, DC to talk about the current policies affecting federal lands and our nation’s livestock producers”, said Skye Krebs, PLC President and rancher from Ione, Oregon. “It’s important that we work closely with our legislators in Washington to promote sound public policies that create a stable business environment for producers, and promote conservation of our nation’s wildlife habitat.”   PLC members will meet with representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. They will also receive legislative briefings from the American Sheep Industry and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.   Participants will also have the opportunity to meet with congressional representatives on Capitol Hill to discuss a variety of legislative issues affecting Western ranchers, including Wildlife Services funding, greenhouse gas regulation, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.   PLC leadership will also meet with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.   “Our nation’s livestock producers are out on the land each and every day promoting conservation, while working to the feed the nation and the world,” said Krebs. “I’m looking forward to a series of productive meetings this week to ensure our ranchers have the resources they need to continue serving as stewards of our nation’s precious lands, while not being hindered by unnecessary or burdensome government regulation.”   ###      The Public Lands Council (PLC) has represented livestock ranchers who use public lands since 1968, preserving the natural resources and unique heritage of the West.  Our members own nearly 120 million acres of the most productive private land in the West and manage vast areas of public land, accounting for critical wildlife habitat and the nation’s natural resources.  PLC works to maintain a stable business environment in which livestock producers can conserve the West and feed the nation and world.