Figure 5.5 



Herbage and Browse Production in the Contiguous United States, Under Prevailing 

 Vegetation Cover and Range Condition, 1976 



Pounds Per Acre 



I^H Greater Than 2000 



m 800 - 2000 

 m 400 - 800 

 I I - 400 



Livestock grazing (nearly all beef cattle) is the major use of range. 



Most of the range grazing occurs on non-Federal 

 lands. In 1976, 531 million acres of non-Federal range 

 were grazed — two-thirds of all the range grazed by 

 livestock (table 5.4). The predominance of non- 

 Federal grazed lands is especially evident in the east- 

 ern sections where more than 99 percent of the area 

 grazed in the North and 91 percent in the South are in 

 non-Federal ownership. More importantly, non- 

 Federal landowners own 98 percent of the range 

 grazed in the six Great Plains States. This accounts 

 for 25 percent of all the range grazed in the con- 

 tiguous States. 



Some 258 million acres of Federally owned range 

 were grazed in 1976. Almost 98 percent of the grazed 

 Federal lands are in the 17 western States and only 

 2 percent, or 4.7 million acres, are in the 31 States 

 east of the Mississippi River. Only in the Pacific 

 Northwest section do Federal lands supply more than 

 half of the grazed range. About 57 percent of the 

 grazed lands in Federal ownership are administered 



163 



