Management is Key
Post by Clemson Montana Summer Program student Elyse Wiederhorn
If you ask people if cutting down trees is good or bad, nine times out of ten they will say
that it is a bad thing. I would have been one of those nine people if not for the discussion we had with Jeff Hermanns, an Area Forester at State of Montana DNRC. He changed my thinking by explaining that sometimes removing trees from a thick forest will actually be beneficial in the long run for the environment and citizens alike. The work Jeff Hermanns performs is vital for rangeland management because without it wildlife and people would be in more danger from the rampant wildfires popping up in the western landscape.
After meeting with us at the Prairie Ecology Lab house Jeff Hermanns directed us to the
Haul Creek fire area where hundreds of thousands of acres of Montana fields and forests were destroyed. He showed us that the trees have still not grown back even though it has been over 30 years since the fire occurred. It was fascinating to hear how destructive this fire was and how it could have been prevented if foresters were allowed to manage it. Hermann preaches management of the forest and that wild fires need to be managed, not suppressed. He clarified that by reducing the number of trees in a specific area it can slow down the speed and ferocity of the fire. Trees packed closely together are extremely hazardous because the fires feed on the abundant trees and become too powerful to control. Cutting down trees allows the firefighters to extinguish the fire sooner and therefore save many properties. The government wants to stop wildfires, but laws haven’t been established to prevent them. Suppression methods for wild fires are abundant, but there are no precautionary methods taken. Unlike the government, private landowners have taken action by hiring Hermann to manage their forests. However, some homeowners enjoy looking at their lush, rich forests and don’t understand that this can cause so much destruction. Hermann is continuing to educate the public on this urgent issue and hopefully it will prevent another catastrophe from occurring.
Contrary to belief, fires are actually natural for the environment: they help clear debris,built up on the forest ground, and can be very beneficial for the soil. Prescribed fires can be controlled so they can benefit the environment as well as keeping the public safe from harm. However, Hermann expressed that a major problem is that the government only suppresses fires because they can destroy family’s homes, businesses, and can even be life threatening. The government has no course of action to have controlled fires on the landscape. People are scared of planned fires in case they get out of control. This is a vicious cycle that causes a huge bill for the government as well as a lot of heartbreak for the people of Montana. To hear about Jeff
Hermann's problem was incredibly moving as well as frustrating. Rangeland management is necessary to protect and sustain the natural forests and hopefully new procedures will be implemented soon.
In addition to educating us on the importance of forestry management, Dr. Lascano, a professor in Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Clemson University, taught us the important details when feeding ruminant species, in particular beef cattle. While working with Dr. Lascano we were able to visit ranches and feedlots to better understand the industry as a whole. A beef cattle ranch is not just black and white, there are many details that happen behind the scenes. Ranchers analyze which feed will produce the best results in the cattle by researching what feed ingredients will stimulate that result. For instance, urea is added to some cows’ diets because it contains an excess of nitrogen which can be converted into protein through the rumination system. Dr. Lascano had us participate in some online activities to determine which feed combination would produce the optimum nutrition diet for that specific animal. Weight, age, and sex all have an impact on the type of feed that animal receives. Dr. Lascano mentioned the varying grazing methods utilized by different farms. The main types are continuous grazing and rotational grazing. Continuous grazing is where the cattle are put on a plot of land where they are allowed to eat unlimited amounts of grass. Rotational grazing is where that same plot of land is divided up into several smaller plots and the animals are moved from plot to plot. Rotational grazing protects the grass by giving it time to recover from getting eaten. In fact, according to Dr. Lascano rotational grazing is 37% more productive than continuous grazing. However, it is costlier than continuous grazing because it requires more fencing as well manpower to herd the cattle. This is only a fraction of the important information Dr. Lascano explained to us, but illustrates the differentiation of one operation to the next and how complex the industry is as a whole. The way cattle are fed in an operation directly correlates to rangeland management because the way the animals are grazed depicts the health and future of the grassland. There is a whole science behind ranching that I was unaware of until this class. It was astonishing to me that ranchers had the technology to adjust their operation in these kinds of ways.
There are four different kinds of beef cattle operations: purebred/seed stock, cow/calf,
stocking, and finishing feedlot. To help us better understand the finishing feedlot operation we
visited Weschenfelder Feedlot where Jack McGuinness, the owner, told us all about his business. A finishing feedlot is where ranchers send their cattle to put on weight before being auctioned off for meat or genetics. He described that he can house up to 25,000 cattle on 877 acres and is able to vaccinate and brand up to 1,000 a day. Through his experience he is able to judge a cow’s condition and its feed requirements solely based on looking at them. This was very impressive because it would require years of experience to be able to acquire and trust that kind of instinct. While showing us his enterprise he explained that the cattle are using the grow safe system to determine which cows eat the least amount of feed and are able to gain the same amount of weight. This is a rangeland management technique because it conserves the amount of grass consumed in the pasture and minimizes the harm done to the grassland.
Forestry management and beef cattle operations seem like they are two separate industries, but in reality they both illustrate rangeland management is necessary for the future of the terrain. Without rangeland management, the wildlife as well as the citizens would be threatened by wildfires. Additionally, without proper grazing techniques the land would be overgrazed and that would kill the vegetation. Without talking with these different people I would have never known the large impact rangeland management has for the whole community.
that it is a bad thing. I would have been one of those nine people if not for the discussion we had with Jeff Hermanns, an Area Forester at State of Montana DNRC. He changed my thinking by explaining that sometimes removing trees from a thick forest will actually be beneficial in the long run for the environment and citizens alike. The work Jeff Hermanns performs is vital for rangeland management because without it wildlife and people would be in more danger from the rampant wildfires popping up in the western landscape.
After meeting with us at the Prairie Ecology Lab house Jeff Hermanns directed us to the
Haul Creek fire area where hundreds of thousands of acres of Montana fields and forests were destroyed. He showed us that the trees have still not grown back even though it has been over 30 years since the fire occurred. It was fascinating to hear how destructive this fire was and how it could have been prevented if foresters were allowed to manage it. Hermann preaches management of the forest and that wild fires need to be managed, not suppressed. He clarified that by reducing the number of trees in a specific area it can slow down the speed and ferocity of the fire. Trees packed closely together are extremely hazardous because the fires feed on the abundant trees and become too powerful to control. Cutting down trees allows the firefighters to extinguish the fire sooner and therefore save many properties. The government wants to stop wildfires, but laws haven’t been established to prevent them. Suppression methods for wild fires are abundant, but there are no precautionary methods taken. Unlike the government, private landowners have taken action by hiring Hermann to manage their forests. However, some homeowners enjoy looking at their lush, rich forests and don’t understand that this can cause so much destruction. Hermann is continuing to educate the public on this urgent issue and hopefully it will prevent another catastrophe from occurring.
Hermann's problem was incredibly moving as well as frustrating. Rangeland management is necessary to protect and sustain the natural forests and hopefully new procedures will be implemented soon.
stocking, and finishing feedlot. To help us better understand the finishing feedlot operation we
visited Weschenfelder Feedlot where Jack McGuinness, the owner, told us all about his business. A finishing feedlot is where ranchers send their cattle to put on weight before being auctioned off for meat or genetics. He described that he can house up to 25,000 cattle on 877 acres and is able to vaccinate and brand up to 1,000 a day. Through his experience he is able to judge a cow’s condition and its feed requirements solely based on looking at them. This was very impressive because it would require years of experience to be able to acquire and trust that kind of instinct. While showing us his enterprise he explained that the cattle are using the grow safe system to determine which cows eat the least amount of feed and are able to gain the same amount of weight. This is a rangeland management technique because it conserves the amount of grass consumed in the pasture and minimizes the harm done to the grassland.
Forestry management and beef cattle operations seem like they are two separate industries, but in reality they both illustrate rangeland management is necessary for the future of the terrain. Without rangeland management, the wildlife as well as the citizens would be threatened by wildfires. Additionally, without proper grazing techniques the land would be overgrazed and that would kill the vegetation. Without talking with these different people I would have never known the large impact rangeland management has for the whole community.
