Where Have All the Good Times Gone?

There has been quite a bit of conjecture over the current state of Mearns Quail habitat in Southern Arizona this year. 2007 and 2008 reportedly produced the best range conditions and therefore the best reproduction years in recent memory as accounted by those who have hunted the birds for years. My observation is that conditions this year were a shocking comparison to the last two. Blow one was the result of poor monsoon rains in the Summer which did not allow the grass that the birds rely on for survival to grow. The knock out punch was landed through poor judgement by the National Forest Service which allowed grazing to continue and in some cases increase on ground which should have been out of the grazing rotation in this poor range year.

Grazing is an important element in the management of public range lands in the West, and proper management of grazing leases on public land is fundamental to the health of these resources. There is continuing debate on how much grazing is too much, and plenty of scientific theories to support either side. I truly believe we could achieve better results by tempering the scientific with a little plain common sense. I have visited most of the last remaining grasslands in this country and without exception where public land is leased for grazing, it appears overgrazed.

Just like every other facet of the federal government, the process is so cumbersome that the process drives the decision making. Common sense would dictate that on a poor range year, grazing animals per unit should decrease with the available grass. But to change management decisions on a seasonal basis would require a lean and flexible system, nothing like the clogged and no common sense system of management by our government that we have all become so accustomed to.

Is it common sense or a complicated scientific equation that we cannot be expected to understand without a masters degree in biology? You decide.


Canyon X 2008



Canyon X 2009