Conifer Encroachment: Effects on Forage
Conifer encroachment reduces perennial grasses, which impacts the productivity of sagebrush grasslands for grazing animals and jeopardizes western livestock operations.
Key Science
- Perennial herbaceous cover in sagebrush grasslands can be cut in half when conifer cover exceeds 40% (Roundy et al. 2014)
- Livestock ranching income can be cut by one-third as sagebrush grasslands are converted to woodland (McLain 2013)
- Across all western rangelands, tree encroachment since 1990 has resulted in lost grazing land production valued at $4.1–$5.6 billion (Morford et al. 2022)
- Removing conifers from sagebrush can increase the livestock carrying capacity providing added management flexibility as the forage base improves (Bates et al. 2005)
Additional Resources
- Working Lands for Wildlife's Yield Gap Tool - State and/or county level reports of rangeland production lost to tree encroachment
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Production Explorer - An interactive app to estimate production and stocking rates
