Rangeland and Grazing

There are 58 active grazing allotments on the Prescott National Forest. The majority of allotments are stocked yearlong (69%), with the remainder stocked on a seasonal basis (31%). There are 122,031 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) permitted on the Forest.  An AUM is the amount of forage required by an animal unit for one month. Livestock on the Prescott National Forest are managed under the Adaptive Management concept whereby the number of cattle authorized annually is balanced with forage supplies and water availability on the allotments. The permittees utilize adaptive management principles to maintain static herd number verses fluctuating herd numbers in order to manage for future drought conditions.

Range NEPA - Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is required when re-issuing grazing permits. The Rescission’s Act allows grazing permits to be re-issued when expired without NEPA as long as NEPA is scheduled.