Rangeland and Grazing
The Klamath National Forest and Butte Valley National Grassland issue grazing permits over approximately 600,000 acres. Livestock grazing is permitted on designated areas of land called allotments. There are approximately 39 active allotments and two wild horse areas that the Klamath National Forest manages.
The range program works to ensure the range resources remain healthy and intact, through promoting sustainable grazing practices. Our goals include managing vegetation to provide for healthy ecosystems and to make forage available on a sustainable basis for use by livestock, wildlife, and wild horses. Grazing practices are guided by grazing permits and Annual Operating Instructions.
MAP OF GRAZING ALLOTMENTS (By District)
Livestock Grazing Permits
Term grazing permits are issued to persons who run a ranch operation within the community. There are approximately 24 permits issued on the Klamath National Forest. These grazing permits are issued for a period of ten years and specify livestock numbers, season of use and numerous other terms and conditions.
Grazing permits are also supplemented with Annual Operating Instructions (AOI). An individual AOI is customized for each grazing season and is made part of the terms and conditions of the Term Grazing Permit. AOI’s include guidance criteria that address annual resource conditions, livestock numbers, periods of use, pasture rotations, monitoring, and range improvement projects.
Monitoring
An important part of the Forest Service mission is protecting and managing the national forests and grasslands under a multiple-use management concept. Rangeland Management Specialists monitor changes in forest condition and assess resilience of forest ecosystems through collection, analysis, and reporting of data from permanent plot and ground surveys. They focus on two types of monitoring: implementation and effectiveness. Rangeland Management Specialists monitor rangeland areas to assure that permittees are implementing grazing practices that meet permit terms and conditions. They also monitor vegetation and riparian areas to determine whether those terms and conditions are effective at achieving the Forest Plan goals.