CRITICAL MARGINS / IN DEFENSE OF GRASSLANDS

[Music] This is desert, an endless wasteland of sand and wind. A place where distance stretches forever, where direction is lost along the shimmering horizon. Above the sun hovers relentlessly. Located on the margins of these deserts, there are arid and semi-arid grasslands. The vegetation of these desert margins is capable of sustaining man and livestock. It has done so since the beginning of recorded history. We have learned that these grasslands are vulnerable, that they can become sandy wastess, the most desolate of deserts. Most disturbing, we have realized that the empty desert grows. The soils of the grasslands are disintegrating into sands which the wind moves in ever widening perimeters over the earth. Hi, I'm Hugh O'Brien. It is the people who use grasslands who determine the fate of these lands. The purpose of this film is to show that mismanagement of the vegetative growth of the grasslands can reduce them to desert. We will show how management can reclaim these grasslands and protect them from becoming desert. [Music] Among [Music] the earliest agricultural societies were those which grew upon the margins of the Saharan, Arabian, Gidroian and Thar deserts. The grasses of these desert margins allowed man to domesticate animals for food. They provided the seedtock for serial grains which led to the production of crops. [Music] In the relatively brief history of the United States, it was not until the latter half of the 1800s when settlers discovering that grasslands which surrounded the deserts provided excellent forage for their livestock established the agricultural society of the American West. Ranchers patented public lands in order to acquire water rights. They fenced great areas in an effort to deny access to others. Those who found water first defended their use of it possessively. [Applause] Conflict was inevitable. Men whose ambition made them unscrupulous, and men whose survival depended upon the water and the grass fought to own what they believed was their for the taking. The violence which has become legend in the stories of the American West began over the early settler's competition for the natural resources of the grasslands. Surprisingly, it was not until 1934 that the federal government did anything to regulate the grazing use of its arid and semi-arid public lands in the American West. The first director of the grazing service, which later became the Bureau of Land Management, Mr. Ferry carpenter remembers the problems and the results very well. The grazing service was established by the Taylor Grazing Act in order to protect stockmen, both cattle and sheepmen in the West who had investments there and owned property and paid taxes against the people that simply owned livestock, sheep, and came and poached on these public lands and took them away from the legitimate owners. It ended the strife between cattle and sheep because the government took over the policing of the aotments. Now these public lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management whose representatives live on the land which they supervise and work closely with the people who use the land. What we had to do in the beginning was to understand the vegetative needs of the plants. What did they need to grow strong and to endure? Equally as important were the livestock. They also had to be given full consideration. Once these needs were identified, a grazing system was developed. We did all this with the help, advice, and cooperation of the local ranchers who graze these lands. We couldn't have accomplished this without their advice and their cooperation. >> How about it, Jim? The old tank quit leaking? >> Looks fine. Now, within this enormous area, which makes up the arid and semi-arid lands of the western United States, there are 133 million acres which is public land and supervised by representatives of the Bureau of Land Management. Within these public lands, there is a variety of desert margins and grasslands. The distinction between these areas is revealed in the amounts of rainfall or snowfall which they receive, the kinds of plant life which grow upon them, and their average mean temperatures. What they share in common is that within the last 100 years, livestock has grazed upon them. Below the 35th parallel, the average mean temperature is 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The hottest areas are noted in darkest red. The annual precipitation in these areas is below 5 in. This is noted in light blue. The water arrives during the summer months in abrupt heavy rainfalls. This land is called hot desert. Above the 35th parallel in what we call cold desert where the average mean temperature is 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The annual precipitation of either rain or snowfall is 5 to 15 in. The desolation of desert begins to steal across the margins into the grasslands and the desert grows. [Music] In the 1860s when the great cattle baron John Chisum drove thousands of cattle into southeastern New Mexico, this is the site which greeted. The pioneers boasted that the grass grew as high as the belly of a horse. The grassland stretched to the horizon in every direction and could be grazed upon throughout the year. In the exuberance of the new frontier, the ranchers proclaimed, "Grass is forever." But they were wrong. The early settlers lacked knowledge of the plant requirements. Their livestock grew heavy on the grasses and continued to graze relentlessly. The tall grasses became short grasses and still the livestock continued to graze. They ate into the very system which the grasses had for maintaining themselves. and the grasses weakened. Waiting among the grasses was the mosquite, an undesirable, unpalatable shrub. As the grasses weakened, the opportunistic mosquite began to stretch its complicated root system into an everexpanding circle, sometimes gaining a circumference of 40 ft, siphoning off the limited moisture, growing large, tall, and strong. Attacked from above by the overg grazing livestock and from beneath by the roots of the mosquite which stole its moisture, the grasses began to disappear. The wind which once caressed the grass now scured around the mosquite stem, lifting the vacant soil, depositing it in dunes around the triumphant shrub. The desert margin was becoming desert. Much of the mosquite encroached land is public land of the United States for which the Bureau of Land Management has responsibility. At first, the BLM working with the local ranchers reduced the number of livestock and shortened the grazing seasons. These attempts alone did not work. In the 1960s, the Bureau of Land Management realized that it would have to rely more on total grazing management systems to maintain or restore the land's capability. >> Working with the local ranchers whose livestock grazed the public lands, the BLM made a complete analysis of the area and designed a grazing management system based upon the physiological needs of the desirable grasses. To effect the system, the BLM had to construct fences and make water improvements. Because the mosquite had become so predominant, the BLM had to reinforce its grazing maintenance program with some chemical treatment. As a result of aerial spraying, much of the mosquite was killed without harming other growth. The combination of an intensive grazing system which rotated livestock and rested pastures along with the reduction of mosquite permitted the dormant seeds of desirable vegetation to regain their vigor. This desert margin land given the chance to recuperate has made a miraculous recovery. The grasses have returned. The duning sands of desert begin to disappear. But it is dangerous to take success for granted. >> Not long ago, this land was brought back from becoming a near desert. We sprayed the mosquite. We set up a grazing management system. But we made a mistake. We failed to see that the grazing management system was properly implemented. Now this land is slowly becoming desert again. Having won back the grass, we failed to make sure that the grazing rotation schedule was followed. And once an effective grazing management system is established, it must be carefully maintained. The mosquite and the desert are always here waiting for us to relax and to forget. [Music] Less than a hundred years ago, the San Simone Valley of southeastern Arizona was a lush and fertile valley. Along the valley floor, a perennial stream flowed, its water filled with fish. Beside the stream, thick grasses and willow group. Birds darted and nested in the thicket. 50,000 head of livestock grazed as far back as the surrounding foothills. There local irrigation was possible. The farmers, the ranchers, the livestock flourished. Then in 1934, less than 50 years later, this valley was declared a national disaster area. A long struggle to reclaim the San Simone Valley began. In their eagerness to use the land, the early settlers forced the land to their needs rather than they themselves adapting to the land. The abundance of palatable grasses gave way to an invasion of various desert shrubs. In addition to overg grazing the grasses, the settlers, in an effort to detour the occasional overflow waters of the river away from their newly founded community, cut a channel to enable the seasonal flood waters to bypass. Unknowingly, they increased the river's gradient. The flowing water began an eroding action known as head cutting. Head cutting is the sudden dropping away of soil caused by rapid flowing water over an area which has been depleted of its vegetative cover. It is a combination of two actions. The overs soil runoff of water dropping however little to a lower level causing erosion at the point of drop and as the water lands it hits the lower level creating an erosion undercutting action. This overs soil water force and undercutting combined to slowly and methodically erode away the top soil. Head cutting takes place both on the sides of a channel where sid streams enter the mainstream and certainly in a much more dramatic fashion in the main channel itself. Damage from head cutting continues even after the water flow ceases. Action from drying, heat parchment, and wind erosion causes a further widening of the channel by sides sloughing. Head cutting gouges a deeper and deeper grade all the way back to the stream's headwaters. In the 1900s, almost as if nature intended to punish the settlers for mismanagement of the valley, a drought descended, followed by heavy rains which washed away the drought weakened lands. Appalled, the settlers watched helplessly as the water tore lengthening, deepening gullies in which their soils were swept away. The moist valley of San Simone had become desert, and the desert continued to grow. Almost half the area of this valley is public land. This land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, which assumed a leadership role in the very complicated task of restoring it. The Bureau of Land Management and the people of this San Simone Valley understood that soil is the basic resource. It supports life. The BLM and the people agreed that the soil must be saved if the land was to be saved. Modest efforts were begun to restore this land in the 1930s. Contour terraces such as this one were built which slowed some of the water flow and collected silt. This one is still working effectively. Unfortunately, in the early days, we failed to adequately maintain our efforts. Many of these contour terraces washed out. It became apparent that more elaborate efforts in the main channel and tributaries were necessary to slow the incredible force of the moving soil and water. Using rock and soil available here on site, a fan-shaped dam was constructed downstream at this location to allow the flow of water to slow which then in turn allowed the silt to accumulate here behind the structure. This spillway allows large flows of water to flow downstream under control. The silt that the water carries is deposited behind the dam as the water slows down. As this silt accumulates, it backs up behind the dam. The river is regraded to its original channel. Thus, the perennial stream is hopefully reestablished. These abutments, sometimes called dragon teeth, break up water that is flowing rapidly through the spillway, thus preventing undercutting. This draw down pipe drains the shallow water that may remain behind the dam. The outflow flows over this general area, encouraging the reestablishment of native grasses. The main channel has regraded for 50 mi upstream. The first 15 miles upstream has completely filled in to its original gradient and once again grows palatable vegetation. This area today is a showplace of wildlife habitat management. Not long ago, the area upstream would barely support two or three cattle per square mile. Today, because of the restoration efforts, this land supports 150 head per square mile. But these livestock are carefully managed to prevent the incident of overg grazing, which could begin the process of degeneration all over again. [Music] It will take much longer to completely reestablish the fertility of this valley. But that very crucial beginning has been made. >> Man and his livestock not only can coexist with but can help to support the balance of nature. Once man enters into nature, he must conscientiously manage his every act. If he does not, imbalances such as once occurred in the San Simone Valley can destroy the land and ultimately man himself. In the cold deserts of Nevada, where the annual precipitation is as little as four, sometimes 5 in, the soil is characterized by alkaline conditions. The salt desert shrub is the predominant vegetative type. An extreme temperature range from summer's heat to winter's cold visits this area. At the same time, John Chisum was moving his thousands of cattle into the hot deserts of New Mexico, an 1860s mining boom erupted along the eastern front of the Sierra Nevada mountains, spreading out into the deserts to the east. Thousands of prospectors and miners with hearty appetites created a market for meat. Livestock operators from California and Utah moved their herds into the inner mountain basins to be close to the mining camp markets. When they arrived, they found a salt bush sage landscape with a vegetative mantle of palatable shrubs, four-winged salt bush, bud sage, and white sage. Between the shrubs forming the under canopy, squirrel grass, Indian rice grass, gyetta, and alkali sacone, equally palatable grasses. While these shrubs and grasses were able to thrive under the adverse climatic conditions, they could not survive constant year-long grazing. Regretfully, the expanding livestock industry and the government learned this too late. At the old abandoned mining camp of Marietta, the undesirable shrub at Greewood dominates a completely deteriorated landscape. Only the wild burrow descended from those pack animals left behind by the early prospectors are able to find forage here. Although their constant grazing contributes to the degeneration of this area, laws protect these remnants of the early American West from removal. As hopeless as this area looks, cattle still managed to graze here during the winter months. During the spring, they graze on forbes such as the Russian thistle, commonly known as the tumbling tumble weed. It is my belief that this area has potential, that the paddleable vegetation can be brought back. If it's to be done, it will require the resources of an organization like the Bureau of Land Management. time and very careful management. Here at the Grey Hills Aotment, the Bureau of Land Management in cooperation with the livestock operator has demonstrated that a carefully managed rest rotation grazing system with no chemical or mechanical treatment can produce desirable vegetation even under adverse conditions. [Music] Rest rotation management is the resting and systematic rotation of pastures. While one pasture rests and the plants regain their vigor, the other pastures are grazed, thus maintaining the needs of the livestock while still meeting the physiological requirements of the plants. This rest rotation system is an excellent example of grazing management in this area. At the Grey Hills aotment, prior to implementing a rest rotation system, the livestock grazed the entire allotment through the winter and late into the spring, thereby inhibiting growth of the vegetation. Now, through proper management, the livestock grace through the winter and are removed when the spring vegetative growth begins. With the livestock moved to summer pastures, the plants have time to become vigorous again. The most ambitious range rehabilitation effort which the Bureau of Land Management has ever undertaken has successfully averted disaster in the lowaltitude cold desert of eastern Oregon. In the 1860s, just as in numerous other places in the American West, livestock moved into Oregon's Malure country. The original markets were the mining camps of Idaho and Montana. Later in the 1890s, sheep herds moved onto the ranges. When the early cattlemen arrived, the dominant plant species was the tall gray sage brush, Artameisia Tridentata. Originally, it was well spaced, allowing palatable shrubs such as bud sage and bitterbush to grow. But long continued heavy grazing exhausted the palatable shrubs and grasses. With competition for moisture and soil, nutrients reduced. The sage brush proliferated. In the 1960s, the Vale district was facing ecological and economic disaster. Poor administration and the use of grazing permits had permitted ranchers to graze far more livestock than the available forage could support. The ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management both recognized that there was not sufficient forage to continue grazing as it had been done. With special appropriations from the United States Congress, the Bureau of Land Management began to employ scientific technology and human abilities for the Dale project. The BLM's plan to make Veil a model for modern multiple use and rehabilitation was accepted by the ranchers and the communities in hopes that it would save their land and their livelihoods. The spraying of sage brush began. Where conditions were right, huge rangeand drills were deployed across the land. This was followed by seeding thousands of acres with crusted wheat, a hearty perennial grass which has proved highly palatable in spring and fall. The special heavy equipment needed to seed so area is called the rangeand drill. Its maintenance depot is located at the Veale District. [Music] We have two Rangeland drills attached to one tractor. This gives us a 20ft seeding swath and in this fashion we can seed the vast amount of rangeand we must to accomplish this seeding project. These discs churn the soil opening it for the seed which is carried up here. Seed then falls through these series of channels and into the freshly turned soil where these dragging chains brush the soil just enough to cover the seed and hold it. Following the spraying and the seeding, we have to schedule an intensive modern grazing system. When that's effectively carried out, the large areas of crested wheat grass seedings thrive. The character of this introduced grass is well suited to the seasonal cycle of this country where livestock spend their winter months on the home ranches, then move across the public lands in the spring. When the crusted wheat is tender, the grass rests dormant in the hot summer months, but is matured when the stock returns to graze in the fall. Here at Veil, we relied heavily on plowing and seeding, and that's expensive. But our range was gone and our time was short. If you have adequate time, grazing systems by themselves can restore the balance of nature at far less cost. It's better to solve your range problems through management than to buy your way out. >> One of the great benefits in restoring the balance of nature to the desert margin grasslands is the support which these efforts give to the sustenance of wildlife. The Bureau of Land Management works diligently to maintain and safeguard the natural habitats for indigenous wildlife so that they'll remain in their natural environment. The encroachment of the deserts into the desert margin, which are natural habitats for many species of wildlife, force the wildlife to leave or to die off. The wildlife most dramatically affected are the grazers and browsers, deer and analopee. Their sustenance is the endangered vegetation. However, the nungame animals and reptiles whose habitats are spread throughout the hot and cold desert areas are facing similar dangers. Their habitats and food supplies are also part of the vegetation of these grassland areas. The needs of the indigenous wildlife are considered in the development of each aotment management plan. [Music] The people who settled Utah in the 1800s met the challenge of creating an agricultural community in this arid wilderness. Their ingenious and extensive series of canals brought supplies of water great distances to irrigate fields of natural hay which fed their livestock in winter. The tops of the sandstone maces which rise from the desert floors provided their summer grazing. Originally Indian rice grass and mountain mahogany grew upon these elevated pastures. The dark green juniper and pinion remained clustered on the adjacent slopes and within rocky canyons. Then as the number of livestock increased and the summer grazing season lengthened, the palatable grasses began to lose their vitality. The juniper and pinion spread out over the mea, their needs absorbing most of the limited precipitation, crowding out the grasses until there was no growth between the pinion and juniper under canopy. In order to help the people of this area maintain the range, we have designed a grazing management plan which allows them to alternate their livestock grazing between public land and their own private land. This alternation between private land and public land gives the vegetation the time it needs to reestablish itself. What is unique here is the treatment we apply toward controlling the proliferating pinion and juniper. You about ready, Quinn? >> Because the ground here is so hard and rocky and the undesirable pinion and juniper so tenacious, we have resorted to chaining, a method which has proved effective. Attaching strands of heavy anchor chain to tractors and dragging them along the surface of this tough irregular ground, we can uproot the forests of pinion and juniper which have taken over the grassy pastures. The tractors are spaced 50 to 75 ft apart and the tractor slowly drag the chain through the trees breaking them off at ground level or uprooting them. The operators must keep each other in sight constantly or the tractors will pull apart and work against each other. In an average long day, this type of chaining operation can cover 2 to 300 acres. After the pinion and juniper have been uprooted and the hard top soil loosened by chaining, we will, if necessary, continue our treatment by seeding grasses. With rainfall like this and proper management, the seed or the original grasses will take hold. By maintaining proper seasonal use of these mesa pastures, we can preserve the natural vegetation. Originally, our chaining operation was developed to sustain greater deer herds and improve our wildlife habitat. Due to chaining, this area now has an abundant regrowth of palatable vegetation. Our success has enabled us to preserve the mesa ranges against desert. It has also permitted the people of this area to continue farming and ranching. >> We've shown you some of our experience in the United States. We've aired sometimes often we have enjoyed success. Our efforts are just beginning. We are convinced that desert margins can be used and sustained. Grazing is by no means the only use of desert margins, but it is a major use and a convenient one with which to illustrate the results of both mismanagement and management. The Watts Ranch in the rolling hills of southern New Mexico is an excellent example of what cooperation can accomplish in restoring land. Sunonny Watts, a second generation rancher, is a scientific rancher, a man who has studied and with the cooperation of the Bureau of Land Management, implemented methods which have helped to revitalize his land and his livestock. When I took over this ranch 17 years ago for my grandfather, there was no system of deferred grazing. Because of this, the grazing capacity was much lower than what it is today. Because of an economic factor, I felt that I could increase the grazing capacity of this ranch through better management of range forage. I devised a grazing system I thought would work for my ranch. This grazing system involved dividing my ranch into three areas. I graze on one area at a time for a period of 12 months while the other two rest. This allows the resting areas to increase in plant vigor and growth. With the use of concentrated grazing, which is a part of rest rotation, far less labor is involved, especially during periods of roundup and shipping. The key to any grazing system is the proper distribution of water. This enables optimum livestock movement and a more efficient use of the forage. Sunny Watts learned that his range improvements, fencing, water dispersements by use of pipeline and pasture rotation have benefited him greatly. He's now able to graze on yearround pastures with adequate reserve of grass for drought periods. Additionally, the restored vigorous grazing areas have reestablished the ranch's watershed, and a stream that has been dry for 30 years has once again begun to flow. Sunny makes maximum use of the stream through an irrigation system. An annual corn crop can be made into silage to fatten his livestock for market. His prized apple orchard produces an additional income crop. By implementing my grazing system and the range improvements I have made with the assistance of the BLM, I have now increased my carrying capacity. We are able to lamb on fresh green pastures in the spring each year. In all of the areas which we have visited, the margins of the hot desert of New Mexico and Arizona, as well as the margins of the cold deserts of Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, we have seen steps taken to retain desirable plant life. And when these steps have been successful, the plant life regains its balance, and the growth of the desert is stopped. The desert margins of the world share similarities with those in the United States. Perhaps our experience and efforts can stimulate other peoples to the challenge and reward of both protecting and using these critical margins. [Music]