Humans
are naturally an omnivorous scavenger and not a predator, as you
quickly realize if you try to kill a deer with your hands and
teeth. But in a geologically short time span, we developed into
a totally new form of predator using language (organization),
fire and spear.
Previous predators hunted in packs in open grasslands, and their
prey protected themselves by bunching into vast herds and dropping
their young over short birthing periods.
Predator packs are intimidated by the herd and have to isolate
animals to kill them, whereupon many predators feed on one animal.
The new human predator did not fear herds and found it easier
to kill whole herds (driven over cliffs, into boggy ground or
surrounded with fire) than to isolate an animal.
Where many pack hunters had fed on one animal, many humans fed
on only a few of the animals killed. This new wasteful form of
predation, to which most animals could not adapt quickly enough,
combined with the fact that humans are omnivorous and can turn
to many food sources, proved devastating.
In the few thousand years following the arrival of these skilled,
human hunters, most of North America’s megafauna disappeared
due to both hunting and fire-induced changes to the landscape.
European pioneers who described vast herds of bison, deer and
antelope were seeing only a remnant of North America’s former
glory. Early explorers, like Lewis and Clark, give clues in their
journals of the deterioration that was taking place.
Resting grasslands is not natural
Though I have obviously oversimplified many of my points, I hope
you can begin to see how they relate to the situation today. This
knowledge was lacking 60 years ago, when U.S. government agencies
established a number of research plots in the Rocky Mountain West
to “prove” that grasslands would recover if rested from
livestock and other large grazing animals.
Initially such plots respond favorably to no grazing, but as oxidation
replaces decay the land deteriorates, as you can see when inspecting
the plots today.
Those I have inspected and photographed all show serious degradation
and little difference between the inside (totally protected) and
the outside (animals graze in low numbers).
Frequently, research by others has reported little difference
between grazed and ungrazed land, which supports what the research
plots demonstrate.
Many thousands of years ago, when the soils and biological communities
in the Rocky Mountain West developed, grasslands were primarily
maintained by large grazing animals and very infrequent fire.
Today the large herds have been replaced by fewer, widely scattered,
animals, and fire is far more frequent — a trend that began
with the arrival of those first human hunters to the Americas.
While a few animals lingering in favored areas, such as riparian
zones, is devastating to our river systems, so too is too few
animals on the catchment area (or watershed) that feeds those
rivers.
We can begin to put this right by mimicking what occurred naturally
in the Rocky Mountain West prior to the arrival of humans —
vast herds moving over equally vast areas — constantly maintaining
biological decay and thus healthy grasslands.
Using livestock as a management tool
When I first realized we could use livestock as land reclamation
tools some 40 years ago, I began working with ranchers in a number
of countries to learn how to do that effectively.
With their input and many years of trial-and-error effort, we
developed a planning process that proved successful and has only
become more so as we continue to learn.
Plant species not seen in decades have returned, springs have
reappeared and wildlife has grown more plentiful and diverse.
Any number of ranchers in the Rocky Mountain West who are using
this planning process and managing in this more holistic manner,
have received good stewardship awards for their land management.
The U.S. Forest Service is currently collaborating with the Savory
Center to see if we can establish a national learning site in
Idaho where we can encourage environmental organizations, as well
as livestock operators, to work together to reverse the land degradation
that is of such concern to all of us.
As we have learned on private lands, these public lands can also
be managed using livestock as a tool to promote their recovery
at low cost.
There is no reason why the grasslands of Idaho, or elsewhere in
the Rocky Mountain West cannot once again sustain abundant wildlife
and healthy rural communities.
Allan Savory,
with his wife Jody Butterfield, founded the Center
for Holistic Management in Albuquerque. In 1999, the center's
board and staff voted to change the name of the institute to the
Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management.
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