As part of the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign's ongoing public lands information effort, congressional staffs were invited this summer on a fact-finding tour of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

NPLGC staff on the tour included director Andy Kerr and George Wuerthner, Mark Salvo and me. We were joined by eight congressional staffers representing seven offices in the U.S. House of Representatives: Brian Bonlender and Matt Taylor for Rep. Inslee (D-Wash.); Janine Benner for Rep. Blumenauer (D-Ore.); Stephanie Ashwell for Rep. N. Johnson (R-Conn.); Ana Unruh for Rep. Markey (D-Mass); Paul Brotherton for Rep. Hinchey (D-N.Y ); Eric Lutz for Rep. McDermott (D-Wash.); and Bill Goold for Rep. Holt (D-N.J.).

Non-congressional participants included Glenn Hockett, director of Western Watersheds Project's new office in Montana; Tom Pringle of the Sperling Foundation in Eugene, Ore., Brent Israelsen, an environment reporter with the Salt Lake Tribune, and Barry Reiswig, manager of the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyo.).

On Day One of the tour (Aug. 27), Wuerthner took the group to a gorgeous, ungrazed (by cows) corner of Yellowstone National Park a few miles from West Yellowstone, Mont. Our hike afforded us an opportunity to see intact grasslands, thriving aspen groves, healthy riparian areas (complete with spongy wetlands) and other elements of cow-free landscapes. Wuerthner explained just what we were seeing, highlighting the characteristics of healthy, natural systems that have been allowed to evolve free of domestic livestock abuses.

On Day Two (Aug. 28), we ventured into the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, which boasts "state-of-the-art grazing management." If that is indeed the case, the art of grazing management has miles to go. On our hike, we found several ravaged creeks and riparian areas that stood in stark contrast to the places we'd visited the day before. Wuerthner pointed out huge swaths of perfect grizzly habitat that have no bears due to conflicts with livestock.

A curious highlight of the day was a visit to a high alpine meadow (around 10,000 feet) dotted with an outhouse. The outhouse was surrounded by about 30 or 40 head of cattle and several times as many cowpies. In the midst of this scene was a U.S. Forest Service sign that read, "Please keep your National Forest clean; pack out all refuse."

The congressional staffers seemed to appreciate both the factual information we shared and the chance to see (and smell) what grazing damage really is. Each of them started the tour with a relatively solid grasp of why grazing is a problem on public lands, but the two days we spent in the field clearly broadened their understanding of the extent of the damage livestock inflict on public lands.

You can read about grazing-related damage 'til the cows come home, but there's no substitute for seeing a cow-bombed creek with your own eyes. It gives new meaning to notions like "turbidity" and "disconnected from its historic floodplain."

Gilly Lyons works for Save Our Wild Salmon in Washington, D. C.