further floodplain development can be 
restricted. 
—Strengthening enforcement and 
restrictions against development of 
flood plains. 
—Expanding land-treatment programs 
to improve watershed conditions. 
Water quality can be improved by: 
—Reducing contamination from rural 
septic systems. 
—Reducing leaks from underground 
storage tanks. 
—In the use of pesticides and 
fertilizers, improving techniques that 
reduce quantities to efficient levels and 
also inhibit transport into ground or 
surface water (fig. 44). 
—Improving timber harvesting and 
road building practices. 
—TIncreasing reclamation of mine sites 
to reduce erosion and acid flows from 
abandoned mines. 
—Rehabilitating deteriorated 
watershed conditions. 
Range Forage 
Implications—Comparisons of future 
range forage supply and demand 
indicate that demands will be met 
through more-intensive management 
(higher investments per acre) of private 
rangeland, the management of wild and 
domestic grazers and browsers, and 
coordinated planning across all 
resources. Private rangeland will be 
managed more intensively only if the 
profit motive justifies doing so. 
The expected growth in total demand 
for beef, veal, mutton, and lamb will 
lead to more-intensive management of 
the private range resource. At the same 
time, the rangeland resource is 
expected to become more important as 
a source of recreation and for other 
uses. Multiple-use management will 
become more important as a way to 
resolve conflicts in resource use as 
management of the range resource 
intensifies. 
The expected small increase in output 
of forage from public lands, coupled 
Figure 44—Water quality can be improved by spraying nonchemical pesticides such as the 
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) sprayed here to control the gypsy moth in Pennsylvania. 
with the projected large increases in 
total demand for meat, means that there 
will be structural changes for some 
producers in the livestock industry (fig. 
45). Some livestock operations will 
have to use other than public lands to 
obtain forage for all seasons of the 
year. This is not possible in some parts 
of the country and could lead to shifts 
away from public lands, causing 
economic and social changes in the 
way of life for some families and 
individuals in the predominantly rural 
livestock industry. For example, 
ranching operations may not be viable 
unless fees are charged for other uses 
of the rangeland such as for hunting or 
recreation. 
Opportunities—The opportunities for 
management of the range forage 
resource relate to range vegetation 
management, management of grazers 
and browsers, resolving social issues, 
and more effective planning for 
multiple demands on rangelands. 
Range vegetation management 1s the 
management of vegetation for a mix of 
resource outputs, including herbaceous 
and shrub forage for domestic and wild 
animals, water quality and quantity, air 
quality, open space, genetic material, 
recreational use, plant diversity, 
community stability, and scenic quality 
(fig. 46). 
Opportunities for range vegetation 
management include: 
—TIncreasing the seasonal availability 
of forages by interseeding of species, 
converting part of the grazing land to 
other forage species, or adjusting the 
mix of animal species. 
—Integrating range forage 
management more fully with the 
management of forest and range lands 
for other renewable resources, 
especially for wildlife and fish and 
water In riparian zones. 
47 
