"The love for a horse is just as complicated as the love for another human being... If you never love a horse, you will never understand."
~ Author Unknown
This is the newsletter from The Cloud Foundation with an update on the 15 Freedom Fund horses that they were able to purchase back from the BLM after the hateful roundup in September, 2009. It was hard to believe that the BLM - against its own regulations removed older horses like the 19 year old Conquistador and the 21 year old mare, Grumpy Grulla. Then they put them up for sale! I don't even want to contemplate what might have happened to them if the Cloud Foundation hadn't been able to buy them back.
So I put on my Conquistador t-shirt, make some coffee in my Conquistador mug and just rejoice in these pictures. Enjoy!
Dear Friends of Cloud and his family and all our wild horses;
After Christmas, Ann Evans (owner of Cloud’s sisters- Smokey and Mahogany and my dear friend), Connor (my Irish Terrier), and I traveled north to Montana. First we visited our Freedom Fund horses on the ranch just north of the Pryor Mountains.
Only with your help and immediate action were we able to adopt and purchase these 15 after the disastrous roundup in September 2009.
BLM removed every horse from Commissary Ridge in the Custer National Forest at the request of the Forest Service. In their defense, I do not believe that the Forest Service managers knew that BLM was permanently removing all of them, but were under the impression at least some would be allowed to go free in the designated range. But, BLM surprised all of us and did not let one horse go free—not even the 19-year-old band stallion Conquistador or the 21-year-old mare, Grumpy Grulla. It is my great pleasure to report to you that all 15 in four bands look fabulous! They have settled in to a pasture in the shadow of the Pryors, an expansive, scenic area bisected by a willow-lined creek below colorful red rock cliffs.
Conquistador has assumed his role as “king of the stallions” and, while we were sitting with him and his mare Cavalitta, Wild Blue, the lone bachelor stallion, came across the creek and ventured a bit too close for Conquistador’s comfort. The proud old stallion marched up to Blue and they did their ritualized pooping and snorting. Then they sparred, rearing and biting. When Conquistador grabbed the back of Blue’s neck, the bachelor fought to get away.
With the snow flying, Conquistador pushed him down hill. He released Blue and they pranced side-by-side, before Blue took off kicking and bucking. I sensed this was great fun for the four-year-old and that he was pleased with himself. After all he got a rise out of the “king.”
Band stallions Bo and Shane
True to her name, 21-year-old, Grumpy Grulla, is happily bossing around every one of her family members in Bo’s band, including the chestnut mare, Sierra, Bo and his bay mare, Chalupa, have the only youngster in the small herd, a coming yearling we named Star. But, Star may soon have young companions as four mares look pregnant including a very round-bellied Mystery (Wild Blue’s mother), one of Shane’s two mares. And Trigger’s mare, Mae West looks as if she could foal at anytime, but we think she’ll wait until spring. This new life will allow for the continuation of rare bloodlines that can one day rejuvenate the main Pryor herd.
Trigger, Mae West and Evita in background
The weather was even warmer when we drove into the horse range and began looking for mustangs. On Tillett Ridge, right near the road, we found Diamond, Cloud’s palomino mother, Trace’s mother, and her daughter. The four looked great. In fact, Diamond and the Palomino look better than they have in years—since Diamond’s injury during the 2006 bait-trapping of horses and the Palomino’s 2007 abscess from an infertility drug dart.
The young bachelors we saw just above them also looked wonderful and included Cloud’s four-year-old half brother—a flashy light-colored roan with stockings and a blaze. On Sykes Ridge the four-year-old blue roan bachelor, Fool’s Crow and the older sabino bachelor, Medicine Bow, eyed us warily from the crest of a hill near Cougar Canyon.
Connor and I took a hike where we had seen Flint and his little family disappear the day before when it was getting dark. From the top of a flat-topped rocky hill, I glassed and glassed and on a distant, snowy ridgeline far above us, I spotted Cloud! He shone in the mid-day sun and I could see others with him but couldn’t make out who they were or how many. I knew that reaching them was impossible which was a disappointment, but that is the reality of winter.
Flint's band: Feldspar, Jasper and Heather
As I glassed the canyons nearer my lookout, I saw a horse who looked very familiar. It was Flint and he was with his family. Ann and I were able to hike through the snow to them. Flint, Feldspar, their son Jasper and a new mare foraged amongst the juniper breaks. We watched as they scooped up snow and chewed, water dripping from their mouths. I recognized Flint’s new mare, Heather, a pretty little red roan two-year-old (featured as a foal in our 2010 Cloud Foundation Calendar by Carol Walker—she was the March “pinup”). I was proud of Flint and whispered, “Good for you.” He had lost a young filly who was removed in the round up, so Heather was a great catch for the young band stallion.
As we watched, I saw Fool’s Crow appear on the hilltop and peer down at Flint’s family. Flint stood very still, watching the young bachelor intently. Then Flint crossed the little draw toward the blue roan who walked downhill to meet him. They greeted, sparred a bit and were joined by another bachelor bright mahogany bay.
Their sparring was strictly for fun, but it also gave Flint a chance to warn them not to come any closer. Medicine Bow appeared atop the hill and Flint accompanied the two bachelors uphill where he and Medicine Bow sparred ever so briefly. Then the three bachelors dashed off. Every so often I turned to see what Feldspar, Jasper and Heather were doing. The mares looked around and started grazing while Jasper watched his father with the bachelors. There is much for a foal to learn just by watching. Jasper and Flint are two of the closest fathers and sons I have ever seen. The colt clearly loves his father, much like Flint loved Cloud when he was a baby.
On our last day we walked from the Red Buttes across Turkey Flat to the mouth of Big Coulee and found Bolder and his band in the sagebrush flats that lead into the deep canyon. Like all the horses we saw, they looked plump, with Autumn and Cascade looking especially round.
There may be two more Bolder babies in the spring. The dark palomino ate snow with Texas as I had seen them do together through the years when they were both in Shaman’s band.
The grand, old stallion died just days before the round up. If Shaman had to go, I was thankful he did not have to go through that awful ordeal. Bolder’s buckskin filly daughter wandered up a snowy gully toward us.
She looked spectacular—the black on her legs is above her knees and her pale coat shone in the sun. It was as if her great-grandmother had returned. We call the filly Jewel and she is a gem. My hope is that she will be allowed to live free in her home forever.
With this in mind, the Cloud Foundation’s top priority in the coming year will be to work on expanding the boundaries of the Pryor Wild Horse Range to reflect the large historic use area of the horses. When we are successful with this effort (which will require continuing education and potentially litigation), the removal of entire families like what happened in the Custer National Forest last September will never happen again! And the BLM will have no excuse to manage the herd at the current, non-viable number.
Meanwhile, the struggle goes on to protect wild horse and burro herds all over the West. We are leading a fight to raise public awareness, focusing attention on BLM’s extraordinary mismanagement of our horses and burros at the expense of not only the animals, but the American taxpayers. A staggering 12,000 wild horses and burros are to be rounded up in 2010. With your continued support we will keep fighting for their right to remain where they belong—in their homes, with their families on our wide western landscapes.
Happy Trails!
Ginger Kathrens
Volunteer Executive Director
Cloud tries to snake his band back to get missing family members. September 2009 roundup
These pictures are heartbreaking for me, and it took me a while to decide to reblog them from The Cloud Foundation blog. However, this story needs to be told - to everyone possible. So here it is, in all it's pain and glory...
HUMANE OBSERVER REPORT re NEVADA’S “CALICO” COMPLEX WILD HORSE ROUNDUP
10 January 2010
By now, many of you know I have been monitoring the Calico Complex roundup as a humane observer and that I was also likewise engaged last summer in the Pryor Mountains of Montana during the roundup of Cloud’s herd where the horses were driven 11 to 15 miles down the mountain. I do my best to document and share with all of you who would be here if you could what my eyes and my camera see. Craig Downer and Bob Bauer have been stalwart companions in the first weeks, and we’ve been gratified to see others coming out to stand vigil for our beloved mustangs who are losing their freedom and their home in this deeply wild and sparsely beautiful mountain range in Nevada. It is our aim to provide updated, regular reports of what we see although logistically we’ve not been able to keep you all as updated as we would like. There is a tremendous amount of driving involved – Nevada is a big place – along rugged roads in very bad Pogonip ground fog and icy cold conditions. It is sometimes so cold even my camera objects to being outdoors and won’t work properly, and I must turn it off and on again to coax it to photograph. Nevertheless, she has been a real trooper and continues to serve us all as well as she can.
First let me say these horses are beautiful, healthy wild horses. They are far more uneasy around people than Cloud’s herd, who are more accustomed to the sight of humans. The wild horses of the isolated Calico Complex and become quite nervous and swell together in unanimous, anxious whooshes of agitated movement when humans approach the pens.
At this point the beautiful stallion, Freedom, and his struggle and ultimate escape is familiar to many. While Craig and Bob were over on the side of the pens where they saw closely his attempts and ultimate flight to freedom, I was on the other side of the pens filming the “processing” of the individual horses, which is when I took the photos of Freedom standing upright, with his right front elbow stuck over the top of the fence to the jerry-rigged processing/sorting area the Cattoors set up at their portable trap sites. I’ve previously posted a picture you’ve probably seen of Freedom’s predicament, in which he got himself into in this sorting/processing alleyway by rearing up in an attempt to go up and over the fence and gate. After horses are driven in by the helicoper, they are individually put through this little processing area to be identified and evaluated for gender and age, and assessed for injuries and overall condition. Most all of the horses had a very difficult time with this area. They are afraid, claustrophobic, extremely anxious, backing up into each other and into the rear gate to the area, heads swinging down low side to side, rearing, kicking the back gate. Some just stand there frozen. Often it’s a first experience for them of being enclosed. They are afraid and very anxious.
Freedom, however, is in a class by himself. I believe Freedom to be Nevada’s Cloud. Cloud is the only horse we have ever seen turn to face the helicopter before being driven into the pen. His intelligence, courage, strength, and sheer spunk, as well as his tender affection for his family and his legendary good looks (!) constantly set him apart. Cloud has kept his head in numerous difficult situations, both on the range and in the hands of man, which is why he became a band stallion at only 5 years old. I believe Freedom has demonstrated that same true greatness of spirit embodied by his courage, presence of mind, and unflinching determination in the daunting face of his greatest natural predator: man.
I took numerous, rapid-fire photos of this incident, and as a tribute to him, to Freedom, I have decided, in response to people’s interest, to post them lest we forget what it means to these magnificent free spirits to be f r e e.
Here is my whole sequence in chronological order, complete with timestamps: a wild horse’s terribly frightening ordeal at the hands of humans, yet this is par for the course in the day of the BLM and the roundup contractors. I am not alleging any specific abuse at the hands of man, rather, it is the general abuse inherent in this entire process of interfering with the wild horses’ right to run free in his own legally designated area. Calico Complex, consisting of five separate but adjoining wild horse herd areas — Black Rock East, Black Rock West, Warm Springs, Calico Mountain, and Granite Range — consists of 550,000 acres, easily enough room for 3,095 horses, almost 200 acres per horse. They are healthy and beautiful now in the dead of winter; they do not need BLM’s form of “help”; what a travesty. While they are drastically reducing the numbers of the wild horses, BLM has increased the number of cattle allowed to graze in the Soldier Meadows allotment. These facts need to be known.
Freedom’s story needs to be told, and told again and again, to children and grandchildren. To this end, Craig Downer and I feel privileged to share the photos we were so fortunate to take, so we are making available these photos to tell Freedom’s story. We want to do all we can to ensure that his sacrifice was not in vain. Personally, I am certain he sustained serious injuries to his chest when he hit the barbed wire fence full bore. Craig observed a deep bloody gash just above his hoof on his front right leg as he freed himself from the wire, but close study of my photographs indicates he arrived into captivity with this fresh cut. Nevertheless, I find some consolation in the fact that wild stallions sustain serious injuries every season during fights to win and keep mares. Their resilience is legendary, and with our prayers, God’s grace, and Freedom’s indomitable spirit, he will recover to start a new family and be a reigning stallion in the Black Rock Range if he can stay out of sight during this and future roundups, and stay out of the crosshairs of those few albeit deadly people who seek to rid the range of his magnificent and gloriously beautiful kind.
To put it in Freedom’s perspective: This ordeal was so serious for him, he was motivated to risk everything in order to escape the possibility of more of the same in captivity. It only lasted one minute, but his life is now forever changed. We must stop these roundups and the terrible stockpiling of these tremendously beautiful, peace-loving animals.
Photo A by Craig Downer 1/02/10 11:11:32 a.m.
Freedom’s band being driven into the trap area from Craig’s vantage point up on the mountain. Note the foal in the rear, trying to keep up. More foals than adults die from roundup injuries and subsequent complications. Additionally, many foals end up footsore and limping. We saw numerous foals limping in the Fallon holding facility on Thursday, 1/7/10 (separate reports to follow). Like human babies’ bones, their hooves are not yet hard, and they simply cannot sustain the pounding inherent in long treks keeping abreast with frightened adult horses, especially here on the hard lava rock, at any speed over a walk.
Freedom is in the front attempting to lead his band away from the helicopter threat, to safety. Sensing danger, he has slowed to a trot despite the looming pressure of the helicopter. Stallions are all about protection of the family. They are either in front, leading, or at the rear, placing themselves between the perceived threat and their family, in which case the dominant or “lead” mare assumes the responsibility for leading the band.
PHOTO B: Freedom stretched out now in a full gallop, a last-ditch effort to escape the demon helicopter on his tail. Although the helicopter sometimes hangs back over the long drive toward a trap site, at this critical juncture the pilot applies maximum pressure to make sure the horses move past their resistance all the way into the pen. This means the helicopter is very close and very low. The noise and wind are terrifying. This is a great shot by Craig capturing the release of the Judas horse, who is trained to run ahead of the wild horses straight into the pen. The wild horses, being frightened herd animals, tend to follow a strong leader.
Photo B by Craig Downer 11:11:46 a.m.
PHOTO C: Thirty seconds later, seen from my (Elyse’s) vantage point on the ground: Hard pressed, Freedom is hesitating, forced to lead his band into the trap. We can see the red-alert position of his ears, high head and arched neck. Note the wrangler hiding outside the jute-lined fence. Once the last horse (the foal) has passed, he and others likewise hiding will duck under the fence and start waving their flagwhips as they walk and run toward the horses to push them all the way up into the pen and slam the gate shut.
Photo C – 11:12:11 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Trapped, frightened horses. Freedom is farthest right. Photo D (above) – 11:20:38 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Freedom and band huddle together. Note that the deep gash above his right front hoof. It is a fresh wound.
Photo E (above) – 11:24:09 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Intelligent and alert, Freedom (farthest right) watches me photograph him while his band looks elsewhere. I am so very sorry, ashamed of my species… I tell him what I told Conquistador when photographing him up on Commissary Ridge while trapped in the trailer in Montana: I am so sorry; I will tell your story. I will tell the world. Photo F (above) – 11:24:09 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
PHASE II of Captivity
Stuck on the Fence, Freedom. Photo G – 1/2/2010 11:28:48 a.m – Elyse Gardner
This processing area was a narrow alleyway approximately 15 feet long within which the Cattoors would individually separate the horses to assess gender and condition. The horses were spray painted on their backs in here, also, to identify from which herd area they were taken.
As you can see below (photo H), Freedom is stuck (see right front elbow). Sue Cattoor is holding her flag whip (see the thigh-level white plastic bag, which is affixed to a whipstick approximately 3 feet long).
Freedom’s hind legs, his only traction, are struggling, and he’s slipping on the icy walkway as he thrusts to get enough lift to extricate himself. His mouth is slightly open in these photos; he is extremely stressed. Being immobilized is frightening enough to a horse, let alone a wild horse, but being immobilized in such close proximity to the greatest predators on earth would be a terrible ordeal for him. We can be sure he is highly motivated to get down off this fence.
Photo H – 11:28:51 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Below in Photo I, two seconds later, he continues stressed. The pressure of the wrangler on the opposite side of the fence with flag whip uplifted is clearly felt. He now has some relief in that both hind legs are back solidly on the ground.
Photo I (above) – 11:28:53 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
In Photo J, below, two seconds later, he’s collecting himself. His mouth is closed. I am impressed with his self-containment at this point. He is nevertheless highly motivated to extricate himself from this terrible predicament. Note that the wrangler opposite Sue Cattoor is no longer present; he is walking around to this side of the processing alleyway.
Photo J – 11:28:59 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
This very present, collected band stallion of ten other horses driven in with him (eight mares, two six-month-old youngsters — a sizeable, very respectable band) now turns to look at his persecutor, below. He has his left front leg over the fence bar as well, giving himself some relief from hanging on the one side and definitely wanting to go over this fence and be free. I’ve seen horses escape confinement; their only interest is to get away.
Photo K – 11:29:01 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
In the photo below, Freedom struggles again to dismount off the fence. Bear in mind it’s only been about 6 seconds since the wrangler walked away from the opposite side of the fence. What I’ve termed a “rest” was really just a split second of cessation of struggle. He was struggling ongoingly to come off this fence.
Photo L 11:29:04 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
In photo M below, spray can in ungloved right hand and holding in his left hand his right-hand white glove, along with something else you’ll see in the next photos, BLM’s Nevada wild horse and burro specialist arrives on this side of the fence striding purposefully into the area. Freedom has removed his left front leg from the fence but remains trapped by his elbow. Sue Cattoor’s flag whip is visible below Freedom’s left front leg.
Photo M – 11:29:07 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
In Photo N below, BLM’s WH&B specialist places on the ground a yellow and gray object resembling a DuraProd electric hotshot (an electric cattle prod). If that is in fact what it is, I see no evidence of its having been used in this instance.
Photo N – 11:29:12 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Photo O- Enlarged
Below in Photo 11, Freedom is highly agitated and struggles desperately to free himself as he is goaded and flagged by Sue Cattoor, her wrangler, and the pressure of the presence of the BLM employee. His open mouth conveys the angst and depth of his struggle. He was not struck with the flagwhips; no one yelled at him or made any noise. People moved slowly and deliberately. From the wild horse’s perspective, it is clearly nevertheless a terrible ordeal.
Photo P – 11:29:15 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
In Photo Q, below, 3 seconds later, Freedom is falling backwards as he finally unhooks his elbow from the fence. I’ve seen domestic horses sustain terrible injuries from fences like this, and I fervently pray he is okay. This turns out to be the least of his worries, as we have all learned.
Photo Q – 11:29:18 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Below in Photo R, Freedom is catching himself, and he righted himself quickly. What tremendous power and determination in this very special black stallion. I also notice the bottom of his hoof. What beautiful, healthy feet these horses have. This will change as they become prior-wild horses living in holding pens with no grazing nor any opportunity for roaming over rocks in their natural habitat to naturally wear down the hoof. If they go to long-term holding facilities in Kansas, Kentucky, and the like, they end up in flat pastures, and their hooves will grow unchecked like our domestic horses’ do, and they will then need routine hoof care. How does a wild horse get hoof care? They are generally brought in and driven with flags, much as we see here, into a squeeze chute that turns them on their side, and then their hooves are filed down with an electric sander-type device. Long-term holding is not without its horrors for these horses. They are amazingly resilient, peaceable animals who deserve to be left to run free. I notice the presence of the yellow and gray device on the ground to the left of the BLM wild horse and burro specialist.
Photo R - 11:29:20 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
In photograph S, below, we see Freedom unhooked from his fence nightmare trotting briskly through the now-open gate into the adjoining pen where he would, in the next few minutes, gather all his strength and make several failed attempts at jumping the 6-foot fence before succeeding.
The fence predicament took just under one minute, from 11:28:48 a.m. to 11:29:25 a.m., but it was a life-changing minute for this horse. Some of our life-defining moments are very short-lived, aren’t they. This experience left an indelible impression on this horse: ”I will get out of here, whatever it takes.”
Photo S- 11:29:25 a.m. – Elyse Gardner
Less than a minute after extricating himself and escaping the looming pressure of human presence so close by, Freedom is now in the adjoining pen, immediately beginning his first approach to fly the fence into the relief of his mountains.
Photo T – 11:30:18 a.m. – Craig Downer
Failing his first effort by having hit the fence and fallen backwards, Freedom now struggles to see over the fence and focuses his full acumen on assessing the power and stride necessary to clear this fence, this barrier to freedom. I feel such pathos in this hysterically desperate, burningly focused, do-or-die mission to flee to his mountains. He wants it, needs it, so badly he can taste it…
Photo U – 11:30:34 a.m. – Craig Downer
After unsuccessfully hitting the fence twice, Freedom recalculated, and in a final herculean effort he mustered the wherewithal to sail over the fence only to encounter this terrible barbed wire perimeter fence which he hit full bore, becoming ensnared in its strands.
Photo V – 11:31:33 a.m. – Craig Downer
Finally, a bittersweet freedom, making a run into the relieving embrace of his mountains, leaving his cherished family behind. His mares were desperate. There was one mare in particular, whom I’ve got on video, who made several runs at the fence but knew she couldn’t clear it and repeatedly slid to a halt at the fence, stopping short of an actual jump. It was heart-wrenching.
Photo W – 11:31:36 a.m. – Craig Downer
Freedom looking back a last time to the family he has to leave behind.
Photo X – 11:31:48 a.m. – Craig Downer
Turning back toward the mountains.
Photo Y – 11:32:14 a.m. – Craig Downer
Freedom slipping into the welcome embrace of his mountain home. We are with you, Noble One. May you heal and stay always free.
Photo Z – 11:33:25 a.m. – Craig Downer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Freedom, in tribute, for your sake and all your wild family.
And to the wild horse supporters, all of you who take a moment to write congresspeople or call the President to help the wild horses and burros stay wild and free, THANK YOU for giving at least one wild horse a voice every time you take action.
For the wild horses and their humble friends, the wild burros,
Elyse Gardner with thanks to Craig Downer Caring is great; action is better. — Elyse Gardner, Humane Observer
This is only one of many excellent reports from the book Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West
LIFEBLOOD OF THE WEST
Riparian Zones, Biodiversity, and Degradation by Livestock
J. Boone Kauffman, Ph.D
Riparian, or streamside, areas are critical habitat for many plants and animals in the arid West. Livestock grazing is the leading cause of riparian degradation. Impacts to vegetation, stream hydrology, and geomorphology can separately or synergistically affect stream functioning and many wildlife species. Thus, riparian restoration, including the removal of livestock, must be a high priority for the conservation of biodiversity.
J. Boone Kauffmanis professor of ecosystem sciences in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis. He studies the ecology and restoration of riparian zones in the arid West, as well as tropical forest ecology in Central and South America, and has written more than a hundred scientific papers on natural ecosystems. He grew up on the West Texas plains and holds a Ph.D. degree in forest ecology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well a B.S. degree in range management and an M.S. degree in range ecology.
Riparian zones are a unique wetland environment adjacent to rivers or streams. People have long recognized that riparian zones and rivers are the lifeblood of the western landscape, being more productive and home to more plants and animals than any other type of habitat. Scientists refer to riparian zones as hotspots of biodiversity, a characterization that is particularly apparent in arid and semiarid environments, where such zones may be the only tree-dominated ecosystems in the landscape. The presence of water, increased productivity, favorable microclimate, and periodic flood events combine to create a disproportionately higher biological diversity than that of the surrounding uplands.
Cattle graze in a wet meadow along Blacktail Creek, Beaverhead National Forest, Montana. Streamside vegetation is cropped low, parts of the stream bank are bare, and other parts are sloughing into the creek.
In the Intermountain West and Great Basin, about 85 percent of native animal species are dependent on riparian zones for all or part of their life cycles. In these same riparian zones, more than 100 plant species commonly can be found on a single gravel bar of about 150 feet in length. In Oregon and Washington, about 71 percent of the native animal species utilize riparian zones. Given that riparian areas make up only 0.5 to 2 percent of the landscape, their value in terms of biological diversity is incomparable.
Healthy riparian zones are of special importance to native fish, aquatic insects, and other stream-dwelling organisms. Particularly in headwater areas, most of the nutrients and energy used by aquatic organisms come from riparian zones--either plant materials that fall into the stream or nutrients dissolved in groundwater flows. Riparian zones are also the source of large pieces of wood that provide important in-stream habitat. Riparian vegetation gives shade over creeks, strongly influencing water temperature and thereby the distribution of coldwater species such as bull trout and other salmonids. Roots bind soil together and create resistance to stream erosion, resulting in complex habitat features such as overhanging banks, deep pools, and clean gravels. Finally, riparian zones are important in influencing water quality through nutrient uptake, chemical transformation (such as the conversion of nitrogen compounds into forms more useful for a variety of plant and animal species), and the mechanical filtering of sediments when flood waters flow high over stream banks.
Many of the same attributes of riparian zones that result in high productivity and high biodiversity are of great economic value to human society. Unfortunately, many current uses of riparian corridors and wetlands by society do not correspond with preservation of these places as wildlife habitats or as providers of important natural services, such as the reduction of flood velocity and intensity. Broad floodplains formed along streams through the millennia have been productive not only because of their complex wildlife habitats and linkages to the aquatic biota but also because of their nutrient-rich soils. In fact, although the best lands for tilled agriculture, livestock forage, and timber growth are riparian zones and wetlands, these same activities, along with a variety of others, have been conducted in such an abusive fashion as to diminish greatly the value of riparian and stream ecosystems, from both utilitarian and ecological viewpoints.
A multitude of land uses show a lack of respect for, or ignorance of, the value of healthy and vigorous riparian zones and have resulted in the deterioration of not only riparian areas, but the entire landscape. In general, land abuses that have degraded riparian zones include logging, water diversion for irrigation or municipal uses, mining, roads, channelization, urbanization, industry, and agriculture. In the western United States, it is likely that livestock grazing has been the most widespread cause of ecological degradation of riparian/stream ecosystems. More riparian areas and stream miles are affected by livestock grazing than by any other type of land use.
Livestock, especially cattle, prefer riparian zones for many of the same reasons that so many species of wildlife use them: high plant productivity, proximity to water, favorable microclimate, and level ground. As much as 81 percent of the forage removed by livestock within a grazing allotment can come from the 2 percent of land area occupied by the riparian zone. Without controls on animal numbers, timing, and duration of use, cattle can rapidly and severely degrade riparian areas through forage removal, soil compaction, stream bank trampling, and the introduction of exotics. These factors have been defined as the direct effects of domestic livestock grazing on ecosystems.
Through time, the direct effects of livestock can have many additive or even synergistic impacts that dramatically change the structure, function, and composition of the riparian zone. Of particular importance are the effects of livestock on streamside forests of cottonwood, aspen, and willow. The highest densities of breeding songbirds in the West are found in these habitats. Long-term overgrazing can eliminate these stands, which are of inestimable value as centers of biological diversity. In the short term, herbivory can depress both plant growth and reproductive output. Depressing the vigor of native plant species, along with increased soil disturbance due to livestock trampling, facilitates the spread of exotic weeds. Herbivory also causes a corresponding decline in the root biomass of riparian vegetation.
This stream in northern New Mexico has become “entrenched.” Over time, grazing and trampling of the soils and banks by livestock have caused the stream to widen and cut downward. Typical results of this stream degradation process include lowered water table, drier soil in the zone adjoining the waterway, and riparian-type plants (such as willows) gradually replaced by more drought-resistant plants (such as sagebrush).
At stream edges, the combination of root loss and trampling weakens and collapses banks. Bank loss and the resulting sediment loads contribute to downcutting, channel widening, and degradation of water quality and fish habitats. As the channel downcuts, overbank flows cease, and subsurface water exchange between stream and floodplain is lost. Floodplain forests evolved to grow and develop in the environment created by large floods. By altering or eliminating the natural flood regime, channel downcutting impedes or halts the development of multi-layered, multi-aged--or "gallery"--forests, such as those composed of cottonwood trees and willows, along with other riparian plants. Loss of the riparian forests negatively affects not only the terrestrial wildlife, but the aquatic biota as well. Loss of shade and organic inputs from riparian vegetation results in increased stream temperature, altered water quality, and a change in composition and abundance of the aquatic biota.
Although occupying a small portion of the landscape, riparian zones are keystone ecosystems because of their high level of biodiversity and provision of other ecosystem services. The restoration of riparian zones would yield many positive benefits, including the return of flood events to something resembling their natural patterns. Because riparian plants have adapted to survive frequent floods and other natural disturbances, they often show great resilience after the cessation of human activities that are causing degradation. Such removal of harmful activities is termed passive restoration, and in the arid West, the most significant act of passive restoration would be the removal of grazing livestock. Logically, passive restoration should be implemented first, and its effectiveness assessed, before the initiation of more active measures, such as structural modifications and reintroductions of species.
Among the greatest barriers to effective riparian recovery are political and social factors. Land and river managers have often been limited to, or limited themselves to, band-aid approaches that do not address the real causes of degradation. For example, salmon have continued to decline in the Columbia Basin of the Pacific Northwest, despite the input of billions of dollars for restoration projects and mitigating measures, because, among other reasons, livestock continue to degrade riparian zones. A prominent and popular project on public lands in the Columbia Basin has been the installation of artificial structures in smaller streams, in an attempt to re-create aquatic habitat that has been lost to decades of poor resource management. However, artificial stream structures can be expensive and often are sited and constructed poorly.
In many cases, the most effective, cheapest, and simplest approach to restoring these river courses would be to halt grazing damage and allow the streams to recover their own natural vegetative and morphological characteristics over time. But it can be extremely difficult politically for managers to make such decisions. And restoration results can take a long time to appear, whereas political demands arise much more rapidly. Yet, given the inestimable natural values that arise from healthy riparian zones, a long-term commitment to riparian restoration, preservation, and sustainable management should receive high priority. The reduction or removal of livestock from vital riparian and wetland habitats throughout the West needs to be given serious consideration by all those concerned about ecosystem health.
References available in printed version of article
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