Institutional changes drive land use transitions on rangelands: The case of grazing on public lands in the American West

Livestock grazing on natural rangeland vegetation is one of the most extensive land uses on the earth, with important implications for livelihoods, food security and the environment. Factors such as population growth and urban development, a shift from resource-based to service-based economies, and intensification in the livestock industry change the extent and practice of grazing worldwide. We investigated how and why livestock grazing on public lands changed since 1940 in the High Divide region of the Northern Rocky Mountains through a detailed analysis of United States Forest Service (USFS) rangeland management records. Based on a 90-year land use history, we process-traced the proximate causes of changes in grazing, identified the decision-makers, and statistically tested which underlying factors were associated with changes in grazing. The forage annually consumed by livestock in our study area declined by 62% since 1940, the equivalent of about 33,000 fewer cows grazing on public lands for a three-month summer period. Livestock grazing was closed on 21% of the total allotment area. The reductions in grazing were mainly caused by land management and policy factors: evaluations of range condition (27%), carrying capacity estimates (21%) and legal and administrative requirements (14%) derived from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). The socio-economic causes of ranch economics (14%) and amenity migration (8%) were comparatively small. Overlap with wilderness and proximity to amenity towns were significant spatial predictors of reductions in grazing. The fate of publicly-owned but privately-used rangelands largely depends on institutions that are able to reconcile the competing values and demands that influence how they are managed.