m06.    How can rangelands be responsibly managed?

Carrying capacity and stocking rate are dependent on each other. Stocking rate is the number of a particular kind of animal placed in a given area.  Continuous grazing occurs year round, reducing costs by reducing the amount of handling and fencing livestock require.  However, cattle tend to overgraze flat areas and those near water supplies. Deferred-rotation grazing requires moving livestock between two or more areas to allow the range to recover.

Riparian Zones can be easily destroyed if cattle are allowed to graze in these areas until all the grass and shrubs have been eaten or trampled.  With constant use, these areas do not get the chance to recover.  This leads to soil erosion and pollution of the water supply.

Sustainable management has many aspects. These include:

• Greatly reducing the number of livestock grazing on public lands.

• Banning grazing-poor rangeland until it recovers.

• Ending federal predator control for livestock.

• Raising grazing fees to fair market value.

• Giving family ranchers with small ranches grazing discounts.

• Subsidizing experimental programs of game ranching of native deer.

e04.    What sorts of resources do rangelands produce?

e13.    What is biomass?

e22.    What do we eat?

e23.    How is soil important to plants?

g22.    What is soil?

g23.    What are some characteristics of soil?