Donahue, D. 1999. THE WESTERN RANGE REVISITED: REMOVING LIVESTOCK FROM PUBLIC LANDS TO CONSERVE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY. Univ. Oklahoma Press. Norman, OK.
Professor Debra Donahue holds a J.D., and a B.S. and M.S. degrees in wildlife biology. She currently teaches law at the University of Wyoming College of Law. Her landmark book uses history, ecology, law and economics to support the conclusion that livestock grazing should end on arid public lands.
Andy Kerr, Mark Salvo, Book Review: The Western Range Revisited
Jacobs, L. 1991. WASTE OF THE WEST: PUBLIC LANDS RANCHING. Lynn Jacobs. Tucson, AZ.
Packed with photographs and text, the most complete reference available on livestock production and its costs. Most (soon to be all) of Waste of the West is available online.
Fleischner, T. L. 1994. Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western North America. Conserv. Biol. 8: 629-644.
A classic accounting of the multiple impacts of livestock production on rangelands; includes an extensive bibliography.
This important report details the "very substantial contribution of animal agriculture to climate change and air pollution, to land, soil and water degradation, and to the reduction of biodiversity.
Belsky, A. J. 1987. The effects of grazing: confounding ecosystem, community, and organism scales. Amer. Natur. 127: 870-892.
Belsky, A. J., A. Matzke, S. Uselman. 1999. Survey of livestock influences on stream and riparian ecosystems in the western United States. J. Soil and Water Conserv. 54(1): 419-431.
The best review available on the impacts of livestock grazing on riparian resources. Belsky, et al. reviewed more than 100 papers on the subject and discovered that no study showed riparian areas benefited from the presence of livestock, and most showed damage. Available at http://www.onda.org/library/papers/index.html.
Ferguson, D. and N. Ferguson. 1983. SACRED COWS AT THE PUBLIC TROUGH. Maverick Publ. Bend, OR.
Donahue, D. L. 2005. Western grazing: the capture of grass, ground and government. Environmental Law 35: 721-806.
Salvo, M. and A, Kerr. 2001. The National Public Lands Grazing Campaign. Wild Earth 11 (3/4): 83-85.
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, A Political Solution to Public Lands Grazing: Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Position Paper: Why Conservationists should Support Buying Out Federal Grazing Permits
Salvo, M. and A, Kerr. 2001. Permits for cash: A fair and equitable resolution to the public land range war. Ranglands 23(1): 22-24.
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Economic Facts of Public Lands Grazing
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Federal Livestock Grazing AUMs: B(u)y the Numbers
Power, T. M. 1996. LOST LANDSCAPES AND FAILED ECONOMIES. Island Press. Washington, DC.
Professor Thomas Powers is Chair of the Economics Department at the University of Montana and a pioneer of natural resources economics. He devotes one chapter of Lost Landscapes to the economic contributions of public lands ranching to state and local economies, which he demonstrates to be practically nonexistent.
- Dr. Powers research (and most of his book chapter on public lands grazing economics) is available online at The Economic Importance of Federal Grazing to the Economies of the West.
- As part of his research on the subject, Dr. Powers produced two tables of economic data that are widely cited to refute the contention that public lands grazing is essential to western state economies.
Holechek, J. L. and K. Hess Jr. 1995. The Emergency Feed Program. Rangelands 17(4): 133-136.
This article describes just one of many subsidies that public lands ranchers receive.
USDI-Bureau of Land Management, USDA-Forest Service. 1994. Rangeland Reform '94 Draft Environmental Impact Statement. USDI-BLM. Washington, DC.
Ignoring the false assumptions and platitudes in this document, it admits that public lands makes almost no economic contribution to even rural communities.
Torell, L. A. and S. A. Bailey. 2000. Is the profit motive an important determinant of grazing land use and rancher motive? Western Agric. Econ. Assoc. Annual Mtg.; June 29-July 1, 2000; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 26 pages.
Abstract: We build our economic models and estimate grazing policy impacts based on the standard economic model of profit maximization. Yet, over 30 years of research and observation has shown that, for many, consumptive and quality of life values are the most important reasons for the purchase of western ranches. Ranch buyers want an investment they can touch, feel and enjoy, and they have historically been willing to accept low returns from the livestock operation. Profit maximization appears to be an inadequate model for explaining rancher behavior; in estimating what impacts altered public land policies will have; and in de-scribing grazing land use and value. In this study, only 27% of the value of New Mexico ranches in the most productive rangeland areas was explained by livestock production potential. Economists and policy-makers must take the influences of both traditional livestock production and quality of life values into account when determining appropriate policies for western rangelands.
Torell, L. A., N. R. Rimbey, J. A. Tanaka, S. A. Bailey. 2001. The lack of profit motive for ranching: implications for policy analysis. Proc. Current Issues in Rangeland Resource Economics Symp. Western Reg. Coord. Comm. on Rangeland Economics WCC-55. New Mexico State University Res. Rep. Ser. 737. New Mexico State University. Las Cruces, NM. 12 pages.
Abstract: The economic impact of changing land-use policies has traditionally been estimated using the standard economic model of profit maximization. Ranchers are assumed to maximize profit and to adjust production strategies so as to continue maximizing profit with altered policies. Yet, nearly 30 years of research and observation have shown that family, tradition, and the desirable way of life are the most important factors in the ranch purchase decision - not profit. Ranch buyers want an investment they can touch, feel, and enjoy, and they historically have been willing to accept relatively low returns from the livestock production. Profit maximization appears to be an inadequate model for explaining rancher behavior, describing grazing land use, and estimating the impacts of altered public land policies. In this paper, we investigate the relative importance of livestock production income and desirable lifestyle attributes in determining the market value of western ranches, and we explore what this means for economic models and policy analysis.
Torell, L. A., N. R. Rimbey, E. T. Bartlett, L. W. Van Tassell, J. A. Tanaka. 2001. An evaluation of the PRIA grazing fee formula. Proc. Current Issues in Rangeland Resource Economics Symp. Western Reg. Coord. Comm. on Rangeland Economics WCC-55. New Mexico State University Res. Rep. Ser. 737. New Mexico State University. Las Cruces, NM. 10 pages.
Abstract: The federal grazing fee is currently set using the Public Rangeland Improvement Act (PRIA) fee formula established in 1978 and modified in 1986. The formula is adjusted annually using indices of private land grazing lease rates (Forage Value Index, FVI), prices received for beef cattle (Beef Cattle Price Index, BCPI), and costs of beef production (Prices Paid Index, PPI). The FVI tracks price movement in the private forage market and was the only index originally proposed to be included in the fee formula. Public land ranchers and an Interdepartmental Grazing Fee Technical Committee assigned to study grazing fee alternatives in the 1960s questioned the ability of the FVI to account for short-term demand, supply, and price equilibrium, and, for this reason, the BCPI and PPI were added to the fee formula. Over 30 years of data are now available to evaluate whether adding the BCPI and PPI did, in fact, help explain short-term market fluctuations. This analysis shows, as earlier studies did, that, if tracking the private forage market is the primary objective, then the fee formula should have included only the FVI. Including the BCPI and, especially, the PPI has caused calculated grazing fees to fall further and further behind private land lease rates. Had the $1.23 base fee in the PRIA formula been indexed by only the FVI, the federal grazing fee would have been $3.84/AUM instead of $1.35/AUM in 2000. It is time to consider the feasibility of a competitive bid system for public lands, or, at the very least, adopt a new fee formula that generates more equitable grazing fees.
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Livestock and Water
Belsky, A. J., A. Matzke, S. Uselman. 1999. Survey of livestock influences on stream and riparian ecosystems in the western United States. J. Soil and Water Conserv. 54(1): 419-431.
The best review available on the impacts of livestock grazing on riparian resources. Belsky, et al. reviewed more than 100 papers on the subject and discovered that no study showed riparian areas benefited from the presence of livestock, and most showed damage. Available at http://www.onda.org/library/papers/index.html.
Graphics: Riparian Degradation and Recovery after Grazing. USDI-BLM, USDA-Forest Service. 1995. Rangeland Reform ’94 Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Bureau of Land Management. Washington, DC: 3-44 – 47.
Forest Guardians. "Endangered Streamside Forests" (factsheet)
Cascadia Times, The Big Dry
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Grazing Impacts on Threatened and Endangered Species
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Livestock versus Wildlife
Wilcove, D. S., D. Rothstein, J Dubow, A Phillips, E. Losos. 1998. Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States: assessing the relative importance of habitat destruction, alien species, pollution, overexploitation and disease. BioScience 48(8): 607-615.
Flather, C. H. and L. A. Joyce. 1994. Species endangerment patterns in the United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-241. USDA-Forest Service. Fort Collins, CO.
Monti, L. "Threats to Amphibians: Grazing"
Gallizioli, S. 1977. Ovegrazing on desert bighorn ranges. Trans. Desert Bighorn Council 1977: 21-23.
Center for Biological Diversity, Livestock Grazing, Fire Regimes, and Tree Densities
Forest Guardians, Livestock Grazing and the Forest Health "Crisis"
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, Livestock Major Factor in Unhealthy Forests
BEFORE and AFTER Grazing Diagram by Karen Klitz, featured in Witzeman, B. 2001. An educational tool about cattle grazing. Catus Wren-dition (Mar-Apr 2001). Maricopa Audubon Society, AZ.
The Great Old Broads for Wilderness has published a 23-page booklet with color photographs and essays by key activists on the myriad impacts of livestock grazing on public lands and resources. Great Old Broads for Wilderness
PO Box 2924
Durango, Colorado 81302
970-385-9577
http://www.greatoldbroads.org
Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. 2001. Livestock Grazing and the Sonoran Desert Protection Plan: A Conservation Perspective. Tucson, AZ. 54 pages.
Hudak, M. Commercial Livestock Production on Federal Public Lands: Environmental Destruction at Taxpayer Expense (June 29, 2000).
National Resources Defense Council / EarthJustice. Livestock Grazing and the Environment (factsheet).
Taylor, S. T. 1998. DE-RANGED: The Bureau of Land Management and the Plight of the American West. Voice of the Environment. Bolinas, CA.
Allison Jones. 2001. Review and Analysis of Cattle Grazing Effects in the Arid West, with Implications for BLM Grazing Management in Southern Utah. Wild Utah Project. Salt Lake City, Utah. Available at http://rangenet.org/directory/jonesa/litrev.html.
Oregon Natural Desert Association Index/Summary Significant Grazing Decisions
Forest Guardians, Dislodging the Sacred Cow: An Index and Summary of Significant Grazing Litigation
Western Watersheds Project, Legal Document Archives
AndyKerr.net Livestock Grazing Page
Cascadia Times – Cattle and Range Resources
Forest Guardians Livestock Grazing Bibliography (searchable, annotated)
Oregon Natural Desert Association Resource Library
The Public Lands Grazing Activist, Grazing Related Research
Anderson, S. "Threats to Amphibians: Grazing and Wildlife" (May 1993)
NPLGC Steering Committee Organizations
Predator Protection Organizations and Networks
Grazing Permit Buyout Quotes
AndyKerr.net Livestock Grazing Page
Excerpts from the works of Aldo Leopold
Forest Guardians Grazing Quotes Gallery
Third NPLGC Letter
to Grazing Permittees
Second NPLGC Letter
to Grazing Permittees
First NPLGC Letter
to Grazing Permittees
NPLGC's Response to Rep. McInnis' Letter
to Federal Grazing Permitees re. Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout
Conservation Organizations Send
Grazing Letters to Congress (May 11, 2004)
Rep. Grijalva's (D-AZ) Drought
Letter to Congress (April 26, 2004)
Response to Public Lands Council Press Release on Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout
