Rural Route Radio June 1, 2026 Hank Vogler the history of Rafter 7 Ranch in Yerington, NV and what the sheep world used to be like in the U.S.

Hank Vogler, a lifelong rancher from Yerington, Nevada, delivers a blistering indictment of federal land policy in a candid episode of the Trent Loos Podcast. He argues that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has systematically dismantled Western livestock grazing—reducing livestock numbers by 70%—not for ecological reasons, but to expand federal bureaucracy and advance a political agenda that marginalizes ranchers. Vogler traces this shift back to the 1970s, when grazing permits were weaponized against ranchers, and reveals how the BLM’s 'multiple use' doctrine has become a cover for prioritizing recreation, wild horse management, and corporate energy projects over food and fiber production. He recounts how the Rafter 7 Ranch, once a model of sustainable sheep genetics, was sold to the Nature Conservancy and later the University of Nevada, stripped of infrastructure and purpose—mirroring the broader destruction of rural livelihoods. Vogler warns that the real enemy isn’t environmentalism, but a 'deep state' strategy to eliminate domestic food security by replacing ranchers with AI data centers, transmission lines, and green energy projects that destroy ecosystems like Nebraska’s Sandhills.