The Range War Reality ★ Why Removing Cattle From Southern Nevada Backfires
The narrative that cattle are removed to protect the range is completely backwards.
A user recently commented to frame the issue of what he perceives as overgrazing and range conditions on federally controlled lands, referring to his family's long history of management in the Badlands as proof.
But comparing range conditions in Southern Nevada completely misses the situation.
To break this false narrative and respond directly to the feedback, the premise must be addressed head-on:
Obviously his dad was an accomplished rancher, and his management in the Badlands proves the basic rule of ranching: anyone who wants to stay in business knows they cannot overgraze their land.
But to apply that standard with that of Cliven Bundy completely misses what actually happens.
The narrative that cattle are removed to protect the range is completely backwards.
The reality is that the agenda in the Virgin Valley and Gold Butte area was never about resource management—it was always about completely removing cattle entirely from the land.
Cliven isn't overgrazing the range; he is doing a vital ecological service.
Look at what actually happens when the cattle are removed.
An area close to Mesquite was fenced off and completely cleared of livestock.
Out of all the desert around there, the specific area that caught fire, killing the yucca trees and devastating the landscape, was the exact section where the cattle had been taken off the land.
This is not an isolated incident. When cattle are forced off these ranges in the Mojave Desert, red brome—locally known as foxtail—for instance, grows completely unchecked during the winter and spring.
By early summer, it dies and leaves behind a carpet of dry, straw-like fuel. Native desert plants like yucca trees have no natural defense against the high-intensity, fast-moving blazes carried by this fine foxtail fuel.
The fires in Gold Butte and the surrounding valleys were heavily driven by this exact cycle: removing the cattle allows the invasive foxtail to build up and turn the range into a tinderbox.
— Vincent Easley II
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