Free Range on Federal Land

Free Range on Federal Land
Sam Frye
2/28/2011
The practice of free ranging livestock on federal lands in the western part of the United States is very common. Many of the large scale ranchers in the west obtain the proper/required permits to allow their livestock (cattle, sheep, etc.) to graze openly and freely over thousands of acres of United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Managment lands. This practice dates back to the 19th century, before the west started to become very heavily settled. In those days livestock were able to graze practically anywhere there was enough grass and water to support large herds. In the 20th century, free range grazing started to get limited to the vast tracts of federally protected land. One of the big problems we are seeing today with free range grazing is the destruction and degradation of many river and stream riparian systems through out our federal forests. Many of these streams and rivers are critical spawning grounds for bull troat and steelhead, which are protected under the endangered species act. The overgrazing around streams is a huge cause of bank erosion with adds more salinity to the water than is healthy for these species. This not only cause severe bank erosion but also removes a significant portion of the natural filter that the aquatic vegetation provides. Destruction of banks also results in the loss of lots of large woody vegetation. The loss of this vegetation allows more sunlight to reach these waterways and causes unnatural rises in water temperature that are not suitable for these protected species. The constant travel across and through streams also disrupts pools and crucial spawning areas throughout the stream's bed. The constant grazing also corresponds with constant defecation in and around these waterways. There are management plans in action through out these forest lands, but a lot of them are not working. I worked for the Forest Service in eastern Oregon and Washington this past summer conducting vegetation surveys for a stream monitering project checking to see if these management practices were actually working. The majority of the streams that we sampled were all heavily grazed and degraded. Vegetation was heavily destroyed and stream bank erosion had dramatically increased in the five years since the previous sample took place. Miles upon miles of barbed wire fencing has been installed along riparian systems through out Forest Service and BLM land, but its impact has been minimal. It is a good start on correcting the problem, but more needs to be done. Anybody who has ever lived on a farm with fences that run through forests, swamps, etc, know that it is very difficult to maintain the integrity of that fence. With hundreds of miles of fence going unmonitered, there has to be holes everywhere. I counted quite a few trees that had fallen and taked out very large portions of fence along waterways. I feel that we need to take more progressive steps to protect these very important riparian zones to ensure the protection and recovery of the bull troat and steelhead.