Grazing
The Problem.
Livestock grazing, as traditionally practiced, is widely recognized as one the chief factors for the decline in rangeland health and productivity in the West. On most rangelands, wildlife habitat has been significantly degraded and range productivity is a small fraction of its potential. Like canaries in a coal mine, many species of fish, birds and amphibians face extinction on our western rangelands and serve as indicators of much deeper problems faced by Utah's ecosystems. Scientific studies show that widespread livestock grazing, as has been traditionally practiced, is a significant factor in the decline of most of these species. Recovery of these species in the intermountain West, including federally threatened and endangered species, will require some changes in livestock use and management. At the same time, the loss in health and productivity of our public rangelands because of overgrazing can have a profound effect on the values and sustainability of rural communities.
Existing land management agency practices make solving this ecological crisis very difficult. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service have fairly good range standards but they are often ignored. In addition, rangeland monitoring by these agencies often fails to report the loss of range productivity and damage to wildlife habitat. Using outdated methods that ignore key ecological needs of the land, these agencies often make decisions that permit livestock grazing in excess of the ecological carrying capacity of the land. For example, using both agency data and our own field measurements, Wild Utah Project's initial studies show that range productivity in southern Utah today is between 5 and 20% of its potential on most grazed lands.
How Wild Utah Project is Helping with the Solution. Since 2000, the Wild Utah Project has been working with land managers, as well as other conservation groups, to use science, the law, administrative frameworks and conservation activism to ensure that livestock grazing is in line with the ecological needs of Utah's fragile lands. Our role in this endeavor has been primarily one of bringing scientific and technical support for analyzing livestock grazing issues and monitoring rangeland health in Utah.
To date Wild Utah Project has produced the following products and/or achieved the following, in its work to provide the needed science to affect Utah grazing management:
Scientific/Data Products:
Developing Analytical Tools to Help the Agencies and other Partners:
Affecting Grazing Management:
