Western Forest; from 41 to 23 percent in the 

 Eastern Forest, but only from 95 to 94 percent 

 in the Great Plains. 



Intensity of management also changes under 

 Alternative 20 as compared to 1970. In 1970, 

 117 million acres of Western Range were 

 grazed under Strategy B, but in Alternative 20 

 only about 100 thousand acres of the manage- 

 ment would be at the B level (table 12). Under 

 Alternative 20, 59 percent of grazed acreage 

 would be managed under Strategy C, 23 per- 

 cent in D, and 18 percent in E as compared to 

 1970, when 32 percent was under Strategy B, 

 53 percent under Strategy C, 8 percent under 

 D, 4 percent under E and 3 percent under 

 Strategy X. Thus this efficiency solution sug- 

 gests grazing fewer acres and increasing the 

 intensity of management. 



While total acreage of Great Plains grazed 

 remains relatively unchanged between 1970 and 

 Alternative 20, the intensity of management 

 would decrease. Acreage managed under Strat- 

 egy B would increase from 23 to 80 million 

 acres, or from 11 percent to 37 percent; and 

 acreage grazed under Strategy C would de- 

 crease from 142 to 132 million acres. Acres 

 under Strategy D would decrease from 19 mil- 

 lion to 2 million acres, or from 9 to 1 percent. 

 Only about 100 thousand of the 31 million acres 

 grazed in Strategy E in 1970 would be man- 

 aged at Strategy E under Alternative 20. 



The intensity of management would increase 

 for the Eastern Forest ecogroup under Alter- 

 native 20 with a four-way split of acreage 

 between Strategies B, C, D, and E. In 1970, 72 

 million acres, or 45 percent of the grazed acre- 

 age, was in exploitative management, 27 per- 

 cent in Strategy B, 20 percent in C, 6 percent 

 in D, and only 2 percent in Strategy E. 



Alternative 20 would demand by decree the 

 elimination of exploitative grazing and there- 

 fore a major improvement in overall manage- 



Table 12. — Acreage grazed by strategy by eco- 

 group for Alternative 20 



Million acres 

 [Totals may not add due to rounding] 





Ecogroups 



Item 



Western 

 Range 



Western 

 Forest 



Great 

 Plains 



Eastern 

 Forest 



Total 



Total acres 



grazed 



Acres grazed 



by strategy 



B 



98.3 



0.1 

 57.1 

 23.0 

 18.1 



23.8 



5.3 



16.6 



1.6 



0.4 



215.1 



80.4 



132.3 



2.3 



0.1 



91.5 



22.8 

 29.6 

 23.7 

 15.4 



428.7 

 108 6 



c 



235 6 



D 



50 6 



E 



34 







ment. One adverse effect of this alternative is 

 that 15.4 million acres in the Eastern Forest 

 ecogroup is recommended for management at 

 the intensive Strategy E. This would have a 

 major adverse impact on wood growth, since 

 the strategy requires conversion from forested 

 to unforested range. 



Total animal unit months produced under 

 Alternative 20 would increase 50 percent as 

 specified. The increase is not shared equally by 

 either the ecogroups or by the three owner- 

 ships.i- The production of animal unit months 

 on the Western Range ecogroup would remain 

 essentially unchanged at 56 million (table 57). 

 Production on the Western Forest ecogroup 

 would decrease from 11 to 8 million animal unit 

 months while on the Great Plains it would drop 

 from 93 million to 80 million. These changes 

 would take place in the face of an overall in- 

 crease in animal unit months of 50 percent. 

 The remaining ecogroup. Eastern Forest would 

 produce the increase. Production in this eco- 

 group would increase from 53 million to 175 

 million animal unit months, a gain of 226 per- 

 cent. This again represents a major shift in the 

 location of grazing. 



The possibilities shown in Alternative 20 

 point out the potential and probable future 

 competitiveness of the Eastern Forest ecogroup 

 in the livestock industry. It also illustrates that 

 as the cost per AUM increases in the Western 

 Range, the potential productivity of the Eastern 

 Forest ecogroup will move closer to overcoming 

 those external factors that would appear to slow 

 production shifts. 



Alternative 20 would result in no change in 

 national water yield and wood growth from the 

 Resource Situation — 1970, a favorable re- 

 sponse. Improvements at the national level 

 would result from increases in yield of quality 

 water and reductions in storm runoff and sedi- 

 ment loads. 



No change or some improvements over 1970 

 were also indicated for all of the variables 

 measured by the qualitative indices except for 

 resident cultural heritage (table 58). The re- 

 duction in resident cultural heritage results 

 from the massive reduction in areas devoted to 

 "ranching activities." The improvement in the 

 other qualitative values also occurs for the 

 same reason. That is, since this analysis is lim- 

 ited to the evaluation of management of graz- 

 ing, the land not used for livestock becomes 

 largely devoted to producing environmental 

 qualities. 



The costs of this alternative would be sub- 

 stantially below 1970 costs. Investment costs of 

 $858 million would be reduced to $532 million. 

 Since production would also change, a more 



" National Forest System, other Federal, and non- 

 Federal. 



79 



