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Grazing as a Strategic Fire Prevention Solution  

Amid the devastating wildfires scorching Los Angeles, the lack of effective fire prevention strategies is apparent. Expanding forest management practices like mechanical thinning and prescribed burns is often the go-to recommendation and for a good reason. They work! Nonetheless, one prevention solution that receives little attention is grazing. While the idea of parading cattle across Los Angeles city is impractical and even absurd, the strategic use of grazing in shrubland ecosystems like Los Angeles’ suburbs should not be overlooked.   

Many people associate wildfires with tall trees burning, turning lush forests into barren wastelands. However, the nature of the Los Angeles fires is vastly different from many of the forest fires that occur in Northern California and the Northwestern states. The Los Angeles fires are burning through homes and businesses but also through grassy ecosystems and shrublands, as opposed to forests. These ecosystems actually depend on disturbances like grazing and controlled fires for their maintenance, but controlled fires in highly populated areas are not always the best solution. It could be particularly windy and have adverse effects on air and water quality (though the short-term pollution effects of a controlled burn are much smaller than a catastrophic wildfire). On the other hand, Grazing has been shown to improve the environment in numerous ways.

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The strategic use of grazing involves allowing cattle, sheep, goats, and other ruminant animals to graze in grassy ecosystems. Research has shown that when grazing, animals tend to eat grasses and shrubs that would otherwise contribute to fueling wildfires. A low-risk, affordable land management practice, grazing has been proven to reduce the annual probability of wildfires in certain California counties like Napa and Sonoma by as much as 45 percent.

Grazing in high-priority landscapes—places identified by CAL FIRE as especially vulnerable to wildfires—has reduced the annual probability of wildfires by 82 percent. These areas, including parts of Los Angeles, are deemed high-priority because of dry conditions, dense vegetation, rugged terrain, and high population density. All these factors make wildfires harder to control and more dangerous for nearby communities.

Grazing helps improve the landscape by reducing vegetation density, which lowers the fuel load that contributes to intense wildfires. One factor driving overgrown vegetation and consequently increased fire risk is the spread of invasive plant species. An analysis of the expansion of 12 different invasive grasses in the U.S. has shown an increase in wildfire occurrence by 230 percent and wildfire frequency by 150 percent. Thankfully, ruminant animals help curb this threat by grazing on invasive plants. Some ruminants even prefer to graze on invasive plants rather than native ones. 

>>>READ: Understanding Climate Change’s Impact on the Los Angeles Wildfires 

In addition to preventing fires and managing invasive plants, grazing aids in ecosystem recovery by naturally fertilizing the land through manure. This manure enriches the soil with essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These nutrients promote the growth of native grasses and vegetation better suited to withstand fire, thereby creating a more resilient ecosystem.

With all of grazing’s many benefits, it is important to note that overgrazing can degrade ecosystems. Therefore, any strategy should adopt an effective and sustainable approach to maintain ecological health. Effective grazing management strategies, such as rotational grazing, involve dividing pastures into paddocks and moving livestock regularly to allow for regrowth, while monitored grazing patterns ensure that pastures are not excessively grazed before plants have had adequate recovery time

Communities across the country already realize the immense potential of grazing for fire prevention. Following the aftermath of the Marshall Fire in 2022, the city of Boulder began implementing targeted grazing to create effective buffers between open grasslands and residential neighborhoods. Ojai Valley, a town 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles, has started a community-supported grazing program that encourages private and public landowner collaboration on grazing. 

>>>READ: Kodoma Systems Is Leading the Way to Healthier Forests

Of course, grazing is not a catch-all solution to wildfires; rather, it should be an integral part of broader forest and land management strategies. As the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles continue to demonstrate, these disasters’ increasing frequency and severity demand coordinated, robust solutions. Integrating grazing with other strategies—such as prescribed burns and mechanical thinning—can enhance ecosystem resilience and reduce fire risk.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.

Copyright © 2020 Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions

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