HISTORY OF RANGELAND
MANAGEMENT
Eras of Rangeland Management
(in United States)
• Native Americans
• Explorers & Trappers
• Settlers and Pioneers
• Open Range
• Homesteaders
• Rangeland Scientists
• Land Managers
Native Americans
• Focus on survival
• Heavy use of natural products
• Early agriculture
• Hunting/gathering
• Use of fire
• Impact on land varied
Explorers & Trappers
• Cortez in 1515 and Coronado in 1540 – first introduced
livestock to North America
• Lewis & Clark 1804-1806
• Lands were largely unmanaged – created roads and
trails, set the stage for development
• Steve Long expedition 1819-1820 described the western
range as the “Great American Desert”
Settlers and Pioneers
Private ownership of land encouraged from late 1800 through early 1900
• Homestead Act in 1862
• 160 acres “proved up” & 5 yrs residence
• Enlarged Homestead Act in 1909
• 320 acres “proved up” & 5 yrs residence
• Stock Raisers Homestead Act in 1916
• 640 for 50 cows
• John Wesley Powell Expedition in 1869
• Realized limitations of western lands
• Suggested 2560 acres for each homestead
Open Range
• After Civil War (1861-1865)
• Livestock production boomed
• Livestock sold by the “Head” not the “Pound”
• Railroads important for livestock sales
• Open Range Livestock peaked in 1880
• 1886 drought, low cattle prices, and several bad winters ended
the “open range” livestock
• Cattle vs Sheep = Range Wars (1870’s)
Homesteaders
• Had to “prove up” to gain
claim.
• Settled around water sources.
• Affected land ownership
patterns seen today.
Rangeland Scientists
• Discipline of range science and management is
completely “American”
• Morrill Act (1862)
• First degree in range in 1919
• By 1925, 15 universities with degrees
• First grazing management
research 1910-1915 by
Arthur Sampson as Director of
Great Basin Experiment Station
(Photo from U.S. Forest Service)
Birth of Land Management
• Taylor Grazing Act 1934
• “.. to stop injury to the public grazing lands and provide for
their orderly use, improvement, and development.”
• Soil Conservation Act of 1935
• Birth of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Improvement of Rangelands
• 1950-60 created great improvement in rangeland health
• Control over grazing
• Bureau Land Management -1946
• Water developments
• Invasive plant control
• Reseeding
• Range science directed management
Environmental Policies 1960-Now
• Multiple Use Act 1960
• Wilderness Act – 1964
• National Environmental Policy Act – 1969
• Federal Land Policy and Mgmt Act – 1976
• Endangered Species Act – 1973
• Clean Water Act – 1977
• Range Improvement Act - 1978
Effects of European Humans
• Implemented controlled, annual grazing and heavy
overgrazing.
• Controlled wild ungulates through hunting
• Exclusion and control of wildland fire
• Farming and planting
• Introduced exotic plants and animals.
Future of Rangeland Mgmt
•?
•?
•?
•?
Take home message
• Native Americans influence vegetation patterns and
animal populations.
• European settlers have strongly altered western
rangelands.
• Whether these changes are “good” or “bad” depends on
philosophy of land management.
• Much damage to rangelands were created in late 1800’s
and early 1900’s.