Argenta Sage-grouse Meadow Monitoring Ignored in Many Sites in Mountain Pasture Areas
Argenta springs and meadows are being destroyed by cattle grazing under the NRST quasi-Collaborative Group grazing scheme. The NRST “experts” drive right by this area when driving to monitor cherry-picked sites including these inside exclosures or slated to be inside exclosures. The incremental fencing schemes and monitoring are designed to rig the baseline for the Land Health Assessment to favor the permittees.
Grazed to the nub – as low as cows can bite off the dying meadow’s plants.
Spring area almost entirely dried out by grazing and trampling.
Road blading and severe grazing tearing up and desiccating remnant meadow.
Pale grass is cheatgrass – cows ignore grazing it, while consuming every blade of meadow vegetation available.
Upstream area of meadow – where relentless abusive grazing has destroyed much of the water holding potential of the area. As a result, dry mesic site species dominate. Cows are tearing apart this vegetative cover through hoof action.
An old monitoring stake in the meadow – which is now ignored and abandoned under the permittee-biased NRST scheme.