Reindeer need large and undisturbed areas during the whole year. For many years, reindeer husbandry in Sweden has had to grapple with intrusions, such as mining, hydro power development, wind power development and industrial scale logging. New activities are continually encroaching on reindeer pastures. Encroachments into reindeer pastures grazing conditions are seen among both reindeer herders and researchers to be one of the largest threats to the future of Sámi reindeer husbandry.

In Sweden, the environmental law 1998:808 is the primary piece of legislation which regulates permits for environmentally hazardous activities. The developer must in connection with their application for a permit nearly always have to implement an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). An EIA is usually done by a consultant to the developer. The EIA is intended to provide a holistic view of the environmental impacts and effects of various planned activities. If a planned activity will affect a Sámi reindeer herding village/-s, the developer must describe the effects on reindeer herding before the deciding authority, which can be the County Administrative Board, can decide on whether to give permission to the developer. In Sweden, Sámi reindeer herding villages sometimes have difficulties to be considered as concerned parties in development cases. This means that they are not heard, nor do they have the opportunity as injured parties to appeal any permit if necessary. In 2007, the ombudsman against ethnic discrimination (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen -DO) sued Krokoms municipality in the county of Jämtland for ethnic discrimination. The municipality failed to hear Jovnevaerie Sámi reindeer herding village in relation to a case concerning building permits which affected the Sámi village reindeer pastures. DO demanded that the Sámi village be compensated for ethnic discrimination. The municipality's systematic breach of Sámi rights as concerned parties were also, according the  DO, a crime in itself, in both Swedish law and international conventions. DO found that the municipality through its actions overrode Sámi property, and were negligent in their protection of the Sámi as indigenous people on the basis of their minority status.

If a planned activity or measure, which does not require a permit, may significantly change the natural environment, the operator shall consult with the concerned authority and for example any concerned Sami reindeer herding village/-s. The Organisation for Sámi in Sweden (Svenska Samernas Riksförbund, SSR) has together with the Sámi reindeer herding villages in Sweden begun to request that operators initiates Social Impact Assessments (SIA - SKB in Swedish). In a SIA the effects of any positive or negative change that occurs (for example in people's lives, culture, society, political systems and health can be assessed). Sámi reindeer herding villages have repeatedly pointed out that environmental impact assessments do not provide sufficient depth and do not take into account the socio-economic and cultural impact of proposed developments, nor do they take account of the Sámi reindeer herding villages traditional land use patterns and the importance of the Sámi cultural landscape. SSR and the Sámi reindeer herding villages therefore urge developers with the help of  SIA’s to analyse the cultural and social effects for concerned Sámi villages of planned activities. Under Swedish law the operator is not required to perform a SIA, but an operator who agrees to undertake a SIA should commission and fund it.

Industrial forestry activities within reindeer herding areas often affect large areas of reindeer pastures, so reindeer herders have a strong interest in how forestry is conducted. According to Forestry Law, a Sámi reindeer herding village shall be given an opportunity for consultation on various types of forest activities. According to the Sámi Parliament and the Forest Board (Skogsstyrelsen) the consultations between reindeer husbandry and forestry companies are held, but with varying degrees of success. The forest companies have mostly poor knowledge of lands in respect of the needs of reindeer. Forest companies have been known to not carry out forest operations in the manner agreed by the parties during consultations. In light of this situation, the Forest Board together with six Sámi reindeer herding villages has established Reindeer husbandry plans. The purpose of the plan is to act as a detailed basis for all necessary information for the consultations between forestry activities and reindeer herders. The Forest Board has the responsibility to support the work of the reindeer husbandry plans and the practical work is done by the current Sámi reindeer herding villages and the Sámi Parliament. A great deal of interest has been expressed from all parties in the progress of these negotiations, with a view to extending these types of consultations to other fields such as mining, wind power development and recreational facilities such as snowmobiling. A further eight villages are establishing plans and another 19 villages have declared an interest in doing so.

In Sweden there are several long and ongoing court cases related to reindeer grazing activities. In all these cases, landowners have sued Sami reindeer herding villages for allowing winter grazing on private lands. Private land owners argue that the land in question has not been used for a sufficiently long period of time and Sami reindeer herding villages are not therefore able to claim the right to reindeer grazing on the lands in question. On the other hand, reindeer herding Sami claim that they have been using such lands for reindeer grazing periods long enough for them to receive reindeer grazing rights. In 1998, over 120 landowners sued three villages in the Västerbotten County in the district court arguing that the Sámi reindeer herding villages did not have the right to let their reindeer graze landowners’ lands. The Sami reindeer herding villages won in the district court and the landowners appealed to the Court of Appeal, where Sámi also prevailed. Land owners appealed further to the Supreme Court of Sweden in April 2007, and a decision is pending.

The challenge in some areas is that, to prove the Sámi use of land in court, since the Swedish legal system is based on farming culture, is difficult. It is much easier to prove that some land has been cultivated over 90 years than it is to prove hunting, fishing and reindeer herding, as Sámi did not made major impacts on the nature. In Sweden, the burden of proof is on the Sámi, while in Norway is the opposite: landowners must prove that Sámi usage does not exist.