Cheatgrass
Today, I watched firefighters battle a blaze that threatened a few homes in Bloomington. Last July, I described problems that neglect and cheatgrass create for western rangelands, and concluded thusly:
Next time you hear extreme environmentalists talk about more wilderness, ask them how they're managing the land they've already locked up. As you watch the catastrophic fires this summer, ask yourself who gave these groups the keys.
For those wanting more information (and I'm sure that would include tens of people), the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources published an excellent article on cheatgrass (pp. 12-14).
UPDATE (moments later): Checking the link to the cheatgrass article, I noticed the preceeding article on Sage Grouse (pp. 6-11). Sage Grouse present an excellent case in point to illustrate how extreme environmental groups can hurt the environment and willingly do so. Sage Grouse populations are in rapid decline. The causes are multi-factoral, including real estate development and overgrazing. The greatest threat to the Sage Grouse (and many migratory birds), though, is exactly what I described last July in the link above -- encroachment of monocultural stands of cheatgrass and pinyon-juniper. The best tack we could take to save the Sage Grouse right now is to chain (and otherwise treat) many of the pinyon-juniper stands and, believe it or not, graze cattle on the improved range. Sage Grouse thrive alongside cattle. This presents a sticky truth for extreme groups. They have staked out strong fundraising positions that chaining and cattle are bad. One group states:
Numerous and sundry mechanical means are employed to physically destroy plant enemies. Prominent among these is "chaining," in which a heavy chain (or a heavy cable) is dragged between 2 crawler-type tractors to rip out all woody plants. The heavy equipment and huge anchor chain kill wild animals, destroy nests and burrows, kill many non-woody plants, damage the soil, drag and dislocate large rocks, and generally trash the land.
and
Ranching has wasted and is wasting the Western United States more than any other human endeavor.
But what if data shows that chaining and cattle are good for the sage habitat on which the Sage Grouse and so many other species depend? Answers to complex problems rarely are simplistic.
Next time you hear extreme environmentalists talk about more wilderness, ask them how they're managing the land they've already locked up. As you watch the catastrophic fires this summer, ask yourself who gave these groups the keys.
For those wanting more information (and I'm sure that would include tens of people), the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources published an excellent article on cheatgrass (pp. 12-14).
UPDATE (moments later): Checking the link to the cheatgrass article, I noticed the preceeding article on Sage Grouse (pp. 6-11). Sage Grouse present an excellent case in point to illustrate how extreme environmental groups can hurt the environment and willingly do so. Sage Grouse populations are in rapid decline. The causes are multi-factoral, including real estate development and overgrazing. The greatest threat to the Sage Grouse (and many migratory birds), though, is exactly what I described last July in the link above -- encroachment of monocultural stands of cheatgrass and pinyon-juniper. The best tack we could take to save the Sage Grouse right now is to chain (and otherwise treat) many of the pinyon-juniper stands and, believe it or not, graze cattle on the improved range. Sage Grouse thrive alongside cattle. This presents a sticky truth for extreme groups. They have staked out strong fundraising positions that chaining and cattle are bad. One group states:
Numerous and sundry mechanical means are employed to physically destroy plant enemies. Prominent among these is "chaining," in which a heavy chain (or a heavy cable) is dragged between 2 crawler-type tractors to rip out all woody plants. The heavy equipment and huge anchor chain kill wild animals, destroy nests and burrows, kill many non-woody plants, damage the soil, drag and dislocate large rocks, and generally trash the land.
and
Ranching has wasted and is wasting the Western United States more than any other human endeavor.
But what if data shows that chaining and cattle are good for the sage habitat on which the Sage Grouse and so many other species depend? Answers to complex problems rarely are simplistic.
posted by steve u. at 6/10/2006
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