ARS | Publication request: Long-term Moderate Livestock Grazing Reduces the Risk, Size, and Severity of Wildfires.

Submitted to: Oregon State University Extension Publications
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2010
Publication Date: May 27, 2010
Repository URL: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/eoarc/sites/default/files/653.pdf
Citation: Davies, K., Bates, J., Svejcar, T., Boyd, C. 2010. Long-term Moderate Livestock Grazing Reduces The Risk, Size, and Severity of Wildfires. Oregon State University Beef Research Report 2010. p. 15-17

Interpretive Summary: The influence of moderate livestock grazing on fuel characteristics in sagebrush rangelands are relatively unknown. The effects of moderate grazing on fuels are important because fuels are one of the primary factors determining the risk and severity of wildfires. We evaluated the impacts of grazing on fuels by comparing grazed to non-grazed (livestock excluded in 1936) sagebrush steppe plant communities. Long-term grazing decreased fuel accumulation. These results suggest that grazing is reducing the risk and severity of wildfires on sagebrush rangelands.

Technical Abstract: The influence of moderate livestock grazing on fuel characteristics in sagebrush rangelands are relatively unknown. The effects of moderate grazing on fuels are important because fuels are one of the primary factors determining the risk and severity of wildfires. We evaluated the impacts of grazing on fuels by comparing grazed to non-grazed (livestock excluded in 1936) sagebrush steppe plant communities. Long-term grazing decreased fuel accumulation. These results suggest that grazing is reducing the risk and severity of wildfires on sagebrush rangelands.