SUMMARY 



A systems study was designed to explore the current 

 (1970) and prospective production of resources and 

 role of grazing on all forest and range ecosystems — 

 the forest-range — of the 48 conterminous United States. 

 This report presents the concepts and procedures 

 developed, information assembled, and policy alterna- 

 tives evaluated. 



All of the 1.2 billion acres determined to be forest- 

 range was categorized into 34 major ecosystems. Using 

 ownership, productivity, and condition, each ecosystem 

 was divided into resource units. Current (1970) pro- 

 duction of animal unit months (AUM's) of grazing 

 and of 21 associated resource outputs was estimated 

 for each of 956 resource units. Six management strat- 

 egies were developed for each resource unit. Each 

 strategy consisted of a package of conventional range 

 management practices that were believed necessary to 

 attain the objective of the strategy. Costs for each 

 strategy were derived for each resource unit. Then, 

 each management strategy was applied by simulation 

 to each resource unit, and production of all 22 resource 

 outputs was estimated. Demand for forest-range graz- 

 ing was determined, and estimates of other demands 

 on the environment were assembled from other studies. 



An analytical system was developed and made opera- 

 tional that relates demands to available resources 

 in determining the mix of inputs required to achieve a 

 desired mix of outputs. The system not only permits 



assessment of demands, but also measurement of re- 

 source productive capacity and trade-offs between out- 

 puts. It contains accounting systems to handle the 

 mass of resource and cost data and a linear program- 

 ming code capable of accepting a variety of external 

 constraints. 



Using the assembled information and the analytical 

 system, many alternatives were constructed and evalu- 

 ated for producing animal unit months of forest-range 

 grazing at minimum cost for different target levels 

 under selected political, social, environmental, and eco- 

 nomic constraints. Selected alternatives are presented. 



It is generally concluded that forest-range grazing 

 will continue to provide a share of total national needs 

 for livestock feed. While the forest-range resource has 

 additional grazing potential in some areas, in other 

 areas it is overdeveloped or is being improperly grazed. 

 Thus, investment costs to produce an animal unit 

 month of grazing vary greatly, and much inefficiency 

 exists in the allocation of land to forest-range grazing. 

 Since most of the forest-range environment is not 

 Federally owned, where this study found considerable 

 exploitative grazing, the major grazing impacts on 

 environmental quality will depend upon how non- 

 Federally owned forest-range is managed. Management 

 programs, however, can be developed that will result 

 in more efficient use of the forest-range for grazing 

 and \^'ill also enhance environmental quality. 



VI 



