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Ranchland
provides half of winter range
in Wyoming and most of the benefits
By
Roger Coupal
for Headwaters News
The importance of private open space in Wyoming goes
beyond scenic vistas and cultural icons. This rugged beauty is driving
a housing and population boom in many non-incorporated areas within
the state that rivals some of the fastest-growing areas in Rocky
Mountain West. But that private open space is also an important
component of Wyoming’s wildlife habitat.
Wyoming’s wildlife is an important asset to residents and visitors.
It provides pleasure for viewing and hunting, which in turn generate
dollars in our economy.
Wildlife herds depend upon both the state's public lands and on
private lands, which total 62.7 million acres. Private lands account
for just over 49 percent of that total.
Wildlife generally does not pay attention to the boundaries
that society places on land. Animals move from private to public
land, from state to federal land, and back again. These movements
can occur on an annual, seasonal and daily basis.
Animals that are on high-elevation, mostly public lands during the
summer and autumn often migrate to lower, private lands during the
winter. The availability and quality of that winter range, both
public and private, is critical to overall herd size and viability,
to residents’ and visitors' enjoyment, and ultimately, to the
economic activity wildlife creates.
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With
every ranch that goes,
something else is lost
By
Greg Lakes, editor
Headwaters News
Oct. 9, 2002
Western ranchers are often in the headlines, and they're
often on the receiving end of bad news.
In 1970, there were 2
million ranches in the West; last year, there were barely 1
million and the number was still falling. The amount of U.S. beef
exported has increased over the past 20 years, but that's been offset
by an equal increase in imports.
In 1980, Americans ate an average of $355 worth of beef each year;
last year, the average was $200.
The result has been a big gap in the middle of spectrum: Huge corporate
ranches and big feedlots are profitable, and operations that run
less than 100 head are considered hobbies and the owner probably
has a day job.
What's missing
are the average-size, traditionally Western operations of a
few hundred head and a decent living for the family.
Some sell out to rich out-of-staters and others subdivide. Some
are pushed under by environmental regulations -- the endangered
species act is arguably the most hated, but tighter rules on grazing
public land have forced cutbacks in many states.
Last month, a federal appellate court limited
grazing in Idaho's Owyhee Canyons, though it stopped short of
eliminating grazing on 68 allotments as environmentalists' lawsuit
asked.
Forest Service officials imposed
limits on grazing on Colorado forests in June to protect the
range from damage worsened by drought, and closed most allotments
in New Mexico to keep cattle from congregating in stream bottoms.
Some environmental groups have turned to buying grazing leases to
get the cattle off. Santa
Fe-based Forest Guardians just acquired a 644-acre tract and
now controls rights on 2,637 acres in New Mexico. Arizona's Grand
Canyon Trust has quietly been buying grazing rights for about three
years and has retired about 325,000 acres of range on the Colorado
Plateau.
The boldest plan was last April, when a coalition of groups proposed
that Congress allot $3.3 billion to buy ranchers' grazing allotments
at about double the current market rate. The plan stirred excitement
and suspicion but no real change yet.
But for every rancher that sells out or subdivides, something is
lost. Once-public access is unlikely under the wealthy, new out-of-state
owner. Vistas and open space disappear behind new subdivisions,
particularly on the fringes of the West's sprawling communities.
And as Roger Coupal writes above, winter habitat and a quantifiable
piece of the state economy may be sacrificed for ranchettes.
In mid-July, a Spokesman-Review's
editorial made the point about farmers burning their grass fields.
It's a dirty and potentially harmful practice, but the alternative
may well be worse:
"There probably won't be field burning
on the Rathdrum prairie 10 years from now -- nor grass growing.
In place of the vast green carpet of grass, mint and rolling sprinklers
will be subdivisions with names like Prairie View, Prairie Haven
and Bluegrass Estate.
The dozen or so days of smoke will be replaced by car exhaust
pumped onto state Highway 41 and Post Falls arterials, treated
sewage drained into the Spokane River, and the unrelieved vistas
of suburban sprawl. ..."
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