State Refuge

Went out to the State Wildlife Refuge yesterday- I will have to post some pictures.  All I can say, is what a waste of resources.  There is grass everywhere that is not being utilized and will probably go up in smoke.  The same grass that could be used to make beef.  Don't get me wrong, this refuge is a bit forward thinking allowing some haying and grazing but not near what is needed.

We are trying to do some grazing studies out on the state ground but have been running into problems.  Oh well, it will happen later rather than sooner.  I do have some possibilities though.  They are spending millions to reconfigure the stream- much like the system I talked about early.  It is a pond and plug type.  Where they take the material from the "ponds" and use it to plug up other areas.  Your tax dollars at work.

Today, I am thankful for TnT- not the nitro kind.  The kid kind.  Tay last night was a frog who roped cows... I am starting to see a pattern here.  Her as a frog lived in a cardboard box barn.  We had alot of fun jumping around ribbiting! 

Grazing on a Refuge

I am in the midst of a research project on a wildlife refuge. It involves grazing cattle both late spring and late summer. The late spring grazing is not something practiced on most wildlife refuges because of antedoctal concern for nesting habitat.

We went out and took our first measurements last week. Wow! It was amazing. The cattle created mosaics in areas of that are typically monocultures of grass. These mosaics in turn, create both nesting and brood rearing habitats. Though the data is preliminary-- I have high hopes that this project will help convince other refuge managers to use grazing as a tool. I also hope it will help ranchers be able to graze their cattle on these areas when the grass is at higher quality. Creating a win-win situation with producers and public lands.

I know it is an anomaly. In addition to the grazing component. I believe this project is going to create some PR work for myself and the refuge. We are going to have to convince the public that the earth is no longer flat. It may be round and you don't sail off the edge.