Most of us grew up learning about the dangers of wildfire from a cartoon bear in a ranger hat, saying, “Only YOU can prevent wildfires.”

Cowboys and farmers tend to emphasize the differences between pasture and range, but when we bring it back to the plant level, there are more similarities than differences.

The greater sage grouse has become a poster child for a keystone species in decline across the West: a symbol of the sagebrush steppe being converted, degraded and fragmented. “When I was a kid, I remember seeing a lot more of them,” says rancher Richard Ward of Malta.

Stories abound concerning cow behavior on Western rangelands in both historical and contemporary accounts by the men and women who spend their days with livestock.

Devastating damage for livestock owners across southwest Idaho is prompting land and fire managers from multiple agencies to declare this year’s fire season the worst in over two decades.

“It’s not a complete silver bullet, but nothing is,” says Jay Smith of the J Lazy S Angus Ranch of Carmen. He and his wife Chyenne are using virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on their Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (USFS) permits after the 130,000-acre Moose Fire scorched their USFS grazing allotment in 2022. “I think the proof’s in the pudding when I say we want to keep using it,” he says. “The cost and the work were worth it.”

The Public Lands Rule recently enacted by the BLM has the potential to be a positive step in the direction of flexible grazing management on public lands, or a significant challenge to the ranching industry in their ability to access affordable grazing options. It will be in livestock producers’ reaction, and subsequent forward action to this rule, that the outcome is written. 

We’ll focus on the selenium accumulator plants that thrive in arid regions – the toxic plants that distressed Marco Polo, the toxic plants notorious in cowboy movies for causing “blind staggers” and “alkali disease.”

Historically, the objective of supplementation programs for grazing cattle has been to address nutrient deficiencies based on the difference between animal nutrient requirements and the nutrients provided by the forage, with emphasis on improving forage utilization and animal performance.

In most instances, the dormant season (late fall and winter) provides the best opportunity to remove litter and germinating annual grass seedlings without negatively affecting perennial plants.