1. Summit Creek, Custer County, ID (taken July 1994).On the left you can see a sure sign of a healthy watershed - a beaver pond!

2. This is also Summit Creek. Note the extremely healthy vegetation and the deep, clear water. Although this creek flows through a forested region, you would see the same lush growth in a desert watershed. The difference is that the band of intense vegetation would be narrower.

Now compare this to some creeks subjected to years of overgrazing.

1. This is Duncan Creek in the Owyhee County Wilderness Study Area, ID (taken Spring 1996). The riparian vegetation has disappeared, and the water is muddy. Signs of soil erosion are clearly evident.

2. This is Mary's Creek which runs across school endowment land in southern Owyhee County, ID (taken April 1996). The severe cutbanks and soil erosion are caused by cattle grazing.

3. This is Blue Creek on BLM lands in Owyhee County, ID (taken July 1996). This watershed has been devastated by cows - in fact it has essentially become a cattle wallow!

A question that may have sprung to mind: Where have all those green plants gone?

In Chapter three of the BLM publication "Rangeland Reform '94 - Environmental Impact Statement" it is stated that "The most significant results of excessive livestock grazing in riparian areas are as follows:

• Fish, particularly salmonids, are reduced in numbers, size, and distribution, with populations eventually being eliminated.

• Water quality degrades from increased turbidity and chemicals (livestock pollutants) leaching through soils.

• Less or no water is stored within the banks, causing flood damage and reduced late season flows of springs and streams.

• Less water exists for livestock, wildlife, farmers, and recreationalists during dry periods, when water is in greatest demand."

Figure 3-2 from this chapter shows the degradation process. (Source: BLM 1993g)

Note how the wet meadow converts to sage scrub as watershed devastation proceeds!

In addition to ruining the vegetation, cattle can cause some severe pollution in watersheds that they impact - and not just as a result of their cow pies!
 

Take a look at some rather shocking photos:

1. This dead cow was photographed on BLM lands southwest of Grasmere, Owyhee County, ID (taken June 1996).

2. This one was photographed at Sawmill Creek, Custer County, ID.

Western Watersheds Project seeks to reverse the devastating effects of overgrazing in riparian areas by putting a stop to grazing in these zones for a period of ten years - during which time nature can begin repairing the damage caused by human mismanagement.

How does this happen? In the same BLM report previously cited, Figure 3-3 provides a good representation of the recovery process. (Source: BLM 1993g)

When the banks of the stream are stabilized to prevent erosion, nature can begin to repair the watershed!
 

Look at some photographs of nature at work on Elk Creek and Elk Meadows about six miles from Stanley, ID:

1. This picture was taken in August of 1992. The riparian area was clearly heavily overgrazed and heavily damaged. Subsequently, the area was closed to grazing and is being allowed to recover.

2. This is the same view taken in 1996.

3. And this is a different view from 1996.

Four years later it is well on the way!