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Show Cattle And Pronghom Can Coexist Recently a letter to the editor appeared in the Garfield County News pertaining to a release of pronghom antelope in Grand Stair-case-Escalante National .Monument last December. The authors suggested sug-gested that the reintroduction of these animals was a poor decision on the part of the Monument staff because of the ongoing drought conditions and the potential for the antelope to displace cattle. In this response, I hope to address those concerns and explain why the BLM is working cooperatively with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Re-sources to reintroduce these native species to the Monument. First, a look at the diets of pronghom antelope and cattle is in order. It is true that cattle and pronghom use the same ranges, and can often be found in close proximity proxim-ity to one another. They will drink out of the same ponds, springs, troughs, etc. However, it is important impor-tant to note that the diets of cattle and pronghom antelope are very different. dif-ferent. Cattle are primarily grazers, with the bulk of their diets made up of grass. Antelope are primarily browsers, with the bulk of their diets di-ets made up of brush species. Antelope An-telope will also consume forbs, often of-ten referred to as flowers, weeds and showy plants. Pronghorn consume very little grass. Many researchers have spent considerable time studying the diets of pronghom (references are available avail-able at the Monument office in Kanab). Studies demonstrate that grasses are not important to the survival of pronghorn antelope. In fact, one of the main forage plants sought after by pronghom is a small shrub known as snakeweed, which is of very low value to cat- tie. : It is true that drought conditions ' have limited the availability of grasses to those animals which rely on grass. Pronghom antelope, on the other hand, have adapted to drought conditions and can use a variety va-riety of shrubs that catde will readily read-ily pass up under any circumstances. circum-stances. It is also important to point out that not all forage on public lands has been allocated to cattle grazing. In keeping with the BLM's multiple-use mandate, some forage within the Monument has been allocated al-located to cattle grazing, while other forage has been allocated to support native wildlife species. Within the pronghorn release areas, forage had already been allocated to wildlife and therefore was available to support the antelope without displacing any cattle. The BLM manages public land, including lands within the Monument, Monu-ment, for a variety of values and uses. One of those values is wildlife. wild-life. It is our responsibility to work cooperatively with the Utah Division of Wildlife to restore and manage native wildlife species and to take needed actions to protect the habitat of these species. The reintroduction rein-troduction of pronghom antelope is one effort to meet these responsibilities. responsi-bilities. It can and is being done in a manner that accommodates other uses, such as cattle grazing, of public pub-lic lands. Kate Cannon Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Manager. |
