Craig Wolfrom - Photographer

Essays: Grazing Impact

Katie Fite, biologist for the non-profit, Western Watersheds, holds a tape measure illustrating the stunted nature of wild grasses due to overgrazing my cattle.
   
Biologist fence out cattle creating "exclosures."
   
Highly impacted soils are stripped of vegetation near watering troughs.
     
  
Katie walking next to a large exclosure.
   
Watering troughs with a large exclosure in the distance.
   
Soils are so impacted by cattle, especially around watering troughs, no vegetation is able to grow. Eventually, this situation leads to erosion.
     
  
West of the Missippi, one cow requires 100 acres of range land per year to sustain itself--East of the Missippi a single cow requires only 1 acre.