Overgrazing - Public Grassland

500,000 acres of public grassland have been severely degraded due to overgrazing of the acres over the past several decades. Overgrazing has made the soil erode leaving large gullies. Invasive weeds have invaded the area by replacing native grasses and the shrubs have been encroaching on the grassland area because of the fire that had been suppressed.

In order to restore the 500,000 acres we must begin by assessing the land’s condition. Once we have assessed the land’s condition, we will begin restoring the soil and vegetation. Once this has been completed we will need to decide if we would allow grazing to continue on the property or not.

The first thing we would do is to see how bad the land has deteriorated due to overgrazing and is it salvageable. We will check the soil’s color to check for fertility. If it is black or brown the soil is still rich in organic matter (pp220), but if it’s pale this indicates leaching or low organic content. We will then assess the texture of the soil. The if soil has large particles they are still very porous and will allow water to pass through them quickly, but if they are small, it makes it difficult for water and air to pass through. In clay soils water will infiltrate more slowly and with less oxygen so having a mixture of the two soils would be the best to obtain the most plant growth and sustainable agriculture. We will then assess the soil structure to see how clumpy it is. An intermediate clumpiness is best is best for plant growth. Upon checking the structure of the soil we will check the pH level to see how acidic or alkaline the soil is. One we have assessed the land we can now determine the best course of action to restore the land.

To restore the native grasslands, we will conduct controlled burns to help restore the ecological conditions to the property. The suppression of fire on the property has produced more brush and trees and less grassland so this would need to be restored. When woody plants are damaged and their seeds