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Washington, DC
In cooperation with
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 6 V\^ater Management Djvisidn
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I,! ,-. oiling hills and vast prairies covered
II -v/ with grass. Bubbling springs and cool
streams lined with cottonwood and willow. An
upland savanna of scattered pinon,
ponderosa, and juniper. Conifer forests on
cool mountain tops and north slopes. This
mosaic of greens, golds, and purples was
once the American Southwest.
For hundreds of years, a diverse and balanced
landscape supported herds of nomadic grazing
animals and Native American settlements,
greeting the first Hispanic and Anglo explorers and
southwestern ranchers.
THE PROBLEM
But today, many western watersheds are no
longer as healthy, dynamic, or balanced. Invading
brush and noxious weeds infest the prairies and
savannas. Streams that flowed year-round have
dried to a seasonal trickle. Choked with sediment
from eroding streambanks and uplands or lowered
water tables from stream down cutting, streams
can no longer support fish or provide water for
livestock and humans. As the land's overall
carrying capacity declines, the resulting economic
changes threaten the livelihood of those who
depend on the land for their income.
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Many factors led to this dramatic decline in
western rangeland productivity and water quality
over the past 150 years, including overall
inadequate watershed management. Past and
current land management practices that
contribute to this decline include
• increasingly efficient wildfire suppression
since the early 1900s,
• heavy stocking in the late 1800s,
• abandoned mines,
• improper timber harvesting,
• increasing impact of recreational uses,
• traditional year-long grazing,
• access by public and private roads and
off-road vehicles, and
• natural drought cycles.
Unfortunately, the resources for rangeland
rehabilitation have not kept pace with the need.
The downward trend in watershed conditions and
subsequent nonpoint source pollution acceleration
has continued. Table 1 summarizes some changes
that result from improper watershed management.
These elements most visibly affect riparian
areas, which the public often uses more heavily
than upland areas. Riparian conditions mold the
opinions of environmental scientists, fish and
wildlife biologists, and the public about the land
stewardship commitment of ranchers. So while
today's ranchers must deal with resources very
different than those of 150 years ago, they must
also face a vocal and active public concerned with
environmental protection in an increasingly
complex economic climate.
How can the needs, rights, and responsibilities
of private and public land ranchers be balanced
with the public's need for livestock products, its
right to clean water, and its responsibility to help
protect it?
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TABLE 1.—Inadequate rangeland management.
RESOURCE
Riparian and
upland
vegetation
Riparian and
upland wildlife
Fish and
benthic
community
Streambanks
Livestock
production
Water quality
Soils
Water flow
EFFECTS
Loss or change in type of streamside
vegetation or lowering of water table
Decrease or change in number and
types of mammals, reptiles, and birds,
including game wildlife
Decrease in species composition from
higher quality organisms to those
tolerant of warmer temperatures,
reduced shade, higher water velocity,
increased turbidity or bottom
sedimentation, and wider water flow
fluctuations
Loss or deteriorating bank vegetation,
sloughing; changed bank shape, slope,
and water storage capacity; increased
erosion and sedimentation from
denuded bank
Reduction in weights, reproductive
efficiency, and overall condition
Temperature increase, clarity reduction,
and increase in algae or other
nuisance aquatic weed and plant
growth, bacterial levels, and salinity
Upland soil erosion and heavy soil
particle (sand) deposits in bottomland
areas result in decreased soil
productivity, water infiltration, and
organic matter
Decrease during most of the year but
velocity and volume increase during
storms
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CAUSE
Continuous clipping of more palatable, highly
nutritious plant growth exposes topsoil to erosive
forces and results in invasion of less desirable
species and less infiltration in upland soils
Reduced water flow; higher air, water, and soil
temperatures from reduced shade; and change in
plants needed for food and cover
Riparian tree and shrub loss and erratic hydrologic
cycles — including decreased upland soil infiltration
capacity — cause conditions unfavorable to healthy
reproducing fish and fish food species (see water flow)
Removal of stabilizing plants and bank trampling or
shearing causes sloughing, excessive erosion, and
changes to bank angle, stream channel, and water
column shape
Increase in less desirable plants from shrub intrusion
and uneven range use
Temperature change from reduced shading after
riparian plant loss; clarity decrease from suspended
sediment originating from eroding streambanks and
uplands; algae bacteria and nutrients from livestock
with unlimited stream access
Changes in plant species and density result in nutrient
and moisture loss, exposing bare soil to erosive
forces of wind and water
Removal of upland and bank vegetation causes
accelerated erosion of bare ground, reduces
infiltration and percolation, and decreases the
watershed's ability to store water and release it slowly
throughout the season, thus changing stream from
perennial to intermittent flow;
Uncontrolled compaction can decrease ram and snow
infiltration, increasing stream velocities during storms;
These wide fluctuations in flow are especially
damaging during droughts followed by sudden heavy
rainfalls
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How can the needs and rights of ranchers be balanced
with the public's right to clean water?
The keys to resolving today's technical, social, and
economic issues facing livestock producers are
* education of all interest groups,
• open and nonconfrontational discussion of
controversial subjects, and
• a willingness to work cooperatively toward
mutually agreeable goals in a realistic time
frame.
A growing number of ranchers are balancing
environmental considerations with maintaining and
improving their economic conditions. They are
demonstrating that, in many cases, changes in
range management can prevent pollution and
correct past damage to range and riparian areas.
The Carrizo Valley Ranch Experience
The Carrizo Valley Ranch has achieved a balance.
After 35 years of careful range management, this
3,500-acre ranch in south central New Mexico can
now sustain 100 head of beef cattle, an ample
supply of clean water, a reproducing trout
population (in favorable years), and trophy-sized
deer and turkey.
The ranch was not always in this condition. In
1957 rancher Sid Goodloe began a series of
actions designed to improve range conditions, but
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Ithat also improved water quality. They included
Jriparian rehabilitation, brush management, and a
(modified short-duration grazing system.
The following describes a brush control
I system that works for Carnzo Valley. These
\techniques might be adaptable to similar
ecosystems on ranches across the
Southwest. Research shows that other
rehabilitation systems may also be effective.
\ However, once a ranch establishes a system,
it must follow the system faithfully to be
effective.
Wildfire
suppression
contributed
greatly to the
rangeland
decline.
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LESSON #1: Brush control, a never-ending
chore, should be undertaken with caution.
Brush control steps at Carrizo Valley include
• Removing heavy stands of invading pinon
and juniper by two-way chaining or dozing
and piling
• Prescribed burning following mechanical
treatment
• Reseedmg the range to a mix of native
climax community (final stage of ecological
succession) grass species
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Carrizo Valley faithfully maintains a strict regime
to rehabilitate bare ground (top), including
chaining and burning invading pirion and
juniper (middle), and reseeding with a native
climax community mix (bottom).
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The final
rehabilitation
step is
maintenance
burning to
control brush
seedlings.
Implementing a short-duration rotational
grazing system
Leaving standing large trees and wildlife
corridors
Maintaining the range by spot treating with
herbicide applied from a four-wheeler and
periodic burning in three to six-year cycles—
generally when fuel levels reach 3,000
pounds per acre or when brush seedling
sprouts are clearly visible above grass tops
Following the entire rehabilitation sequence is
critical.
• Without the prescribed burning and
reseeding following chaining, the range can
become more heavily covered with invading
undesirable plants than before treatment.
• Without a rest-rotational grazing system,
livestock will be drawn to the palatable new
growth, canceling any positive effects of
reseeding.
• Without complete periodic maintenance,
including prescribed burns on rehabilitated
range, the fuel load—wood, dead falls, and
conifer needles—will increase to levels that
would cause unacceptably hot wildfires,
retarding grass recovery and destroying
large trees and wildlife corridors.
Goodloe removes livestock from areas
recently chained, burned, and reseeded for an
entire growing season. On areas receiving a
maintenance burn, however, he defers grazing
only until indicator grasses are about 3 inches
high and the soil is stable.
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Selecting a rehabilitation area based on the
area's present capability to recover is critical.
Many heavily brush-infested areas have also
suffered from severe soil erosion. The land
surface, often devoid of topsoil or organic matter,
has a low moisture holding capacity. Such areas
are difficult and expensive to revegetate
successfully in the best conditions.
In the arid western ecosystems where rainfall
is sporadic but intense, invasive brush removal
techniques such as chaining can do more harm
than good to soil and water resources in certain
areas. Selective cutting of brush and some timber
on hilltops and steep slopes or leaving the brush
intact may be preferable. In some cases, a
carefully prepared controlled burn is useful, but
only if enough topsoil remains in place to serve
as a seedbed for grass plants.
LESSON #2: Don't depend on livestock sale
profits to pay for watershed management
work—use other resources.
Range rehabilitation is expensive. While long-term
gains are usually worth the cost, outside capital is
often needed. Carrizo Valley Ranch uses several
techniques to provide extra income for watershed
rehabilitation. They include
• Selectively cutting stands of ponderosa,
pifion, and juniper to produce dimensional
lumber from its one-worker sawmill
Selective
timber
cutting
produces
valuable
lumber.
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Firewood,
fenceposts,
and vigas
(ceiling
beams) bring
in extra
income.
Hunting lodge rental is another income source.
• Selling firewood, wooden fenceposts, and
vigas—logs used for authentic southwestern
ceilings
• Leasing a ranch hunting lodge to hunters
during deer and turkey season
LESSON #£i: If the land is stable and the
livestock properly managed, riparian areas can
be used for grazing.
Only after upland watershed rehabilitation work
has begun and a planned grazing system installed
should headcut gullies be stabilized. Use small
earthen or timber dams or disposed brush and
slash, followed by reseeding after the gully silts in.
Riparian areas need additional treatment.
Carrizo Valley Ranch used silt moving from the
upper watershed to create a wet, marshy area and
pond in a dried streambed. The streambed was
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stabilized with willow cuttings, native sedges, and
rushes. After rehabilitation of the upper watershed,
the stream—dry for more than 70 years—began to
flow year-round, providing a stable moisture source
for the new riparian vegetation.
After establishing trees and other vegetation,
Carrizo Valley allows livestock some access during
the dormant season. Limiting access during the
growing season prevents the cattle—which in
warm months tend to lounge in cool, shaded,
moist areas—from trampling and overgrazing the
forage. During winter, however, cattle move from
the lower, colder riparian areas to the upland
areas, sheltered near groves of trees. Flash
grazing of riparian areas in the dormant season
stimulates growth the following spring, leaving
well-vegetated streambanks intact.
LESSON #4: Grazing management is generally
an effective way to protect water quality, once
rangelands are rehabilitated and stable.
Some range watersheds are so eroded or brush
and weed covered that manipulating livestock
numbers and grazing patterns alone cannot
improve the area within a reasonable time period.
Livestock access to riparian areas is limited to flash
grazing during the dormant season.
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igeland and rest-rotation grazing has turned brush infested
range (top left) into productive pastures (foreground).
Just 35 years ago, Carrizo Valley was in just such
a degraded condition. Now the flexibility of the
rest-rotation grazing system protects resources
and maximizes livestock production.
Carrizo Valley uses a short-duration grazing
system. One herd of about 100 cow/calf pairs
graze in seven different pastures in spring and
summer. In the fall, the pairs use a two-pasture
rotational system; calves are normally sold by
October. In winter, cows use one pasture and
supplemental feed.
Cattle do not graze in the same pasture during
the same portion of a season in any consecutive
year. During the growing season, ranchers move
cattle every week—sometimes as often as every
two or three days—depending on moisture, grass,
and soil condition. Carrizo Valley has found that
once cattle are accustomed to rapid rotation, they
seem to anticipate the move and require minimal
encouragement when changing paddocks.
LESSON #5: Interconnected watershed
management benefits many resources.
Ranchers need clean dependable water supplies
for livestock, wildlife, and ranch use. Livestock
and wildlife need enough nutritious forage to
reproduce and thrive.
Grass and forbs protect soil from erosion,
capture runoff, increase rainwater infiltration—
necessary for forage growth—and protect water
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quality by filtering and adsorbing pollutants.
Ranchers must manage all resources in concert
to ensure clean water, nutritious forage, adequate
soil cover, and stable wildlife populations.
Diversification, development of an adaptable,
low-maintenance cattle breed—the Alpine Black—
and a long-term commitment to watershed
rehabilitation has helped Carrizo Valley Ranch
balance multiple uses and remain profitable. By
demonstrating its time-tested successes, Carrizo
Valley ranch has influenced management
techniques on the adjacent Lincoln National
Forest. Some consider the U.S. Forest Service's
Carrizo Project, an ecosystem approach to
watershed rehabilitation, as the bellwether for
vegetation in soil management on public land with
similar conditions in the Southwest (see Table 2).
The Carrizo Valley Ranch experience is not
unique—many other western ranches have
benefited from proper range management.
Through a consistent and faithfully executed
program, ranchers can balance growing
environmental concerns with their own
economic success.
Adequate water and productive rangelands produce a
profitable operation at Carrizo Valley Ranch.
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HELP IS AVAILABLE
Ranchers can often use help with
• Developing grazing plans, brush
management, and prescribed burning
• Designing livestock watering facilities
and fences
• Economic analysis of various resource
management projections and decisions
• Cataloging existing resources—land,
water, wildlife
• Obtaining cost-share and other financial
assistance for environmental
improvement projects
• Determining possible environmental
impacts of various resource
management decisions
Consult the following sources for
appropriate help
• Local Soil and Water Conservation
District and Soil Conservation Service
• University range and wildlife departments
• State Cooperative Extension Service
• Private consultants
• Livestock associations
• State fish and game or wildlife agencies
• State water quality, environmental, or
natural resources departments or
agencies
• Tribal environmental offices
• U.S. Forest Service and state forestry
departments
• Bureau of Land Management
• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Farmers Home Administration
• U.S. Geologic Survey Office
• State water rights authority
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