Case Study – Grazing as a Fuel Management Tool
Much of the discussion of hazardous fuel management centers on thinning, either hand-thinning or mechanical thinning, and prescribed fire. Less discussed, but growing in popularity, is grazing. Grazing can be the primary tool for managing fuels, particularly for brush and ladder fuels in steep terrain which can be difficult to manage with hand or mechanical thinning, but are appropriate for grazing by goats. Grazing can also help prepare landscapes that are difficult to access for hand-thinning work. But perhaps the most exciting application of grazing is in the maintenance of treated areas, particularly in the WUI, where it may be difficult to apply prescribed fire at the pace and scale that would be required to maintain treated areas. No fuel treatment is one-and-done, landscapes must all be maintained regularly or vegetative regrowth will quickly overtake the area, reducing the benefit of the treatment over time. Grazing can be a cost-effective way to maintain the positive benefits of hazardous fuel treatments long-term.
There are different ways that grazing can be used for fuel management. Different species – goats, sheep, and cattle – have different vegetation preferences, so resource goals will determine which animal is the best grazer for a given landscape. Contract grazing services are becoming more available, where the contractor brings the animals, temporary fencing, herder and/or guard dogs, and is responsible for moving the animals in and out of the area. Grazing can also be done via leasing – with a long-term lease, a rancher may even invest in fencing and water supply on the leased property. Leases may be fee-based, generating revenue for the owner, or may be in trade – vegetation management in exchange for access to pasture or forage. There are also more informal community-based arrangements at the local scale, where a grazer might move their animals from property to property, providing the benefit of fuel management to neighboring landowners and food and space for the grazing animals.
The main benefits of grazing, besides hazardous fuel reduction, is that it is a biological control mechanism which can result in a decrease in the use of chemicals and fossil fuels in vegetation management. Animal manure, spread naturally during grazing, can improve soil health. Well-managed grazing can improve plant biodiversity and help manage invasive species. Challenges to the use of grazing include contract expense, predation, access to water, movement of animals in and out of an area, seasonal limits based on other resource goals (i.e., nesting birds), and nutrient quality of the fuel to be consumed. Despite these challenges, grazing is an important tool in maintaining reduced fuel loads and should be considered in planning and maintenance of hazardous fuel management projects, particularly for maintaining previously implemented management practices, such as shaded fuel breaks, in the WUI.
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