Energy Today: Buffalo for the Broken Heart
Almost all the pastures I looked at were overgrazed. But some grazing is necessary, both economically and in the interests of wildlife habitat. I learned that the health of the pasture is not only a function of grazing pressure, but of how that pressure is applied. Ten years later, when I got the chance, I divided my new ranch into nine pastures and rotated the cattle through them quickly, because, being domestic, and thus deprived of the virtues of selective evolution, they weren’t suited for grazing the pastures evenly. They didn’t utilize all the grasses and forbs unless forced to, and when allowed to wander freely, they concentrated—that is to say, ruined—huge quantities of grass that wild species need. On the Great Plains grass is synonymous with wildlife habitat. When healthy, grass supplies food, shelter, escape cover, and a place to reproduce for almost everything that lives out here. Humans are no exception.
