GRAZING ON PUBLIC LANDS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

A panel of professionals from the ranching, environmental, agency, and university communities was assembled to examine trends relating to the future of grazing on federal lands. Five factors were identified that were thought to influence the use of grazed forages over the next 20 years. These factors were (1) multiple uses of public land, (2) public sentiment towards grazing on public lands, (3) environmental and federal agency regulations, (4) permittee issues, and (5) use of science and technology for managing public land grazing. A list of issues associated with each of the five factors was concurrently developed. The panel of experts was surveyed to explore the future direction each issue would take and the influence each issue may exert on grazing on public lands. All four groups were fairly consistent on the way they viewed the future of grazing on public lands. The most likely scenario includes (1) a significant increase in the demand for multiple uses on public lands, (2) a continued public sentiment against grazing on public lands, (3) and increase in the regulations, and their enforcement, that will negatively impact livestock grazing on the majority of allotments, (4) a continued demand or slight decline in rancher demand for grazing on public lands, and (5) a significant increase in the use of science and technology for managing public land grazing.Land Economics/Use,

RANCH-LEVEL ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF GRAZING POLICY CHANGES: A CASE STUDY FROM OWYHEE COUNTY, IDAHO

Economic impacts often are cited as justification both for and against changes in grazing policy on public lands. A recent study conducted in Owyhee County, Idaho, illustrates a process to gather ranch-level economic information, develop economic models for different ranching systems, and use the models to estimate economic impacts of grazing policy changes. Ranch-level models were developed from producer panels and interviews within the county. Costs and returns, livestock production information, dependency on public lands, and other factors relative to ranch-level economics were gathered in four meetings with livestock producers and other interested parties. Results indicate that, as dependency on federal lands rise, both costs and returns fall. Ranch-level economic impacts of alternative grazing policy scenarios also are detailed.Land Economics/Use, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Participatory Evaluation of Herbage Composition, Biomass Yield, and Management Practices of Natural Grazing Lands in Sidama Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Natural grazing land is the dominant source of feed for ruminant livestock in Ethiopia (Alemayehu, 2003; Zewdie and Yoseph, 2014). However, the production capacity and quality of natural grazing lands has been deteriorating over time and could not support optimum livestock production. Overgrazing the natural grazing lands due to poor grazing land management is among the major contributing factors (Alemayehu, 2003). Although previous studies focused on the evaluation of native grass lands it was either limited to arid and semi-arid agro-ecology or undertaken under different settings (Ayana, 2010; Diriba et al., 2012). Moreover, it did not involve the community in the evaluation process. Natural grazing lands are spatially and temporally heterogeneous (Eaton et al., 2011) and its composition varies with altitude, rainfall, soils, cropping intensity, and grazing land management (Alemayehu, 2003). Thus, understanding the current status of natural grazing lands is important to design pertinent strategies to improve the condition of the grazing land and thereby ensure sustainable utilization. The present study, therefore, examined botanical composition, biomass yield and management practices of natural grazing land under sub-humid and cool humid agro-climatic zones of Sidama highlands

Riparian Meadow Response to Modern Conservation Grazing Management.

Riparian meadows occupy a small proportion of the public lands in the western United States but they provide numerous ecosystem services, including the production of high-quality forage for livestock grazing. Modern conservation management strategies (e.g., reductions in livestock stocking rates and adoption of new riparian grazing standards) have been implemented to better balance riparian conservation and livestock production objectives on publicly managed lands. We examined potential relationships between long-term changes in plant community, livestock grazing pressure and environmental conditions at two spatial scales in meadows grazed under conservation management strategies. Changes in plant community were not associated with either livestock stocking rate or precipitation at the grazing allotment (i.e., administrative) scale. Alternatively, both grazing pressure and precipitation had significant, albeit modest, associations with changes in plant community at the meadow (i.e., ecological site) scale. These results suggest that reductions in stocking rate have improved the balance between riparian conservation and livestock production goals. However, associations between elevation, site wetness, precipitation, and changes in plant community suggest that changing climate conditions (e.g., reduced snowpack and changes in timing of snowmelt) could trigger shifts in plant communities, potentially impacting both conservation and agricultural services (e.g., livestock and forage production). Therefore, adaptive, site-specific management strategies are required to meet grazing pressure limits and safeguard ecosystem services within individual meadows, especially under more variable climate conditions

Grazing Fees: An Overview and Current Issues

Charging fees for grazing private livestock on federal lands is a long-standing but contentious practice. Generally, livestock producers who use federal lands want to keep fees low, while conservation groups and others believe fees should be increased. The formula for determining the grazing fee for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service uses a base value adjusted annually by the lease rates for grazing on private lands, beef cattle prices, and the cost of livestock production. The collected fees are divided among the Treasury, states, and federal agencies. Fee reform was attempted but not adopted in the 1990s. Current issues include instances of grazing without paying fees, efforts to retire certain grazing permits, and a broad approach to buy out grazing permittees. This report will be updated as needed

PUBLIC LAND POLICY AND THE VALUE OF GRAZING PERMITS

This article provides an empirical test of the traditional theory of permit value and investigates the impact of recent changes in public land policies on the value of grazing permits. Results suggest that the cost advantage for grazing on public lands has been capitalized into substantial permit values, but other economic and hedonic factors influencing land prices also have contributed to the value of grazing permits. Public land grazing permits have fallen in value relative to deeded land as grazing fees have increased and as assurance has waned that public land policies will continue to be favorable to ranchers.Land Economics/Use,

Community Resource Management: The Case of Grazing Lands in Northern Ethiopia

Communal grazing lands are important sources of livestock feed in developing countries (ILRI, 1998). In the presence of sufficient demand for livestock or livestock products, unrestricted access to the grazing lands will result in overexploitation of the resource and the scarcity rent of the resource remains unappropriated. Each individual user of the resource enjoys the full benefit of her use of the resource but bears only a fractional part of the cost. As a result, the traditional uncontrolled and free grazing system in many developing countries has caused severe degradation of the grazing lands

Creating a Northern Agriculture. IV. Reservation and Preservation of Agricultural Lands in Alaska

The reservation of agricultural lands is one of the most urgent, and least recognized, problems facing Alaskans today. While more than 17 million acres suitable for agricultural tillage have been identified, fewer than 20,000 acres, in widely scattered locations, are now being tilled and they are increasingly suffering the ravages of suburban, urban, and industrial encroachment. Most lands suitable for agricultural tillage in the future, and all lands suited to domestic livestock grazing, are now in public ownership and control; yet public land use plans do not include agricultural production1 as a consideration for the future in Alaska

Livestock Grazing in India: Policy Issues

The grazing/range lands have been very important in India since ancient times when cattle breeding and milk production was regarded as the second most important profession, next only to agriculture. However, during last five decades increasing domestic animal population has placed enormous grazing pressure on such lands, leading to grassland deterioration and desertification especially in arid and semiarid regions (GOI, 2007; Kala, 2009). Still, grazing based livestock play an important role in rural economy of the as well over 50 per cent of them depend on grazing (of varying degrees) in forests, community lands and other lands in many parts of the country. In the states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka vast areas are used for grazing. In states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh over 70 per cent of land area is utilized as grazing ground (GOI, 2007). In this paper the aspects related to livestock grazing in light of policy considerations is reviewed. Few major areas where more thrust is required are also highlighted