Mount Adams Cattle Grazing

For visitors to our public lands, it is sometimes easy to overlook the fact that they are working forests, producing timber, minerals, and leasing land for private use.

One of the ways the Forest Service meets their mission of productive public lands is by allowing cattle grazing in designated allotments. The Gifford Pinchot Task Force has been involved in helping the Mount Adams Ranger District plan and manage cattle grazing allotments for several years now.

Monitoring cattle grazing allotments on Mount Adams is a perennial activity for our conservation program staff.

When planned with attention to environmental needs, cattle grazing results in little impact to the forest environment, in some cases it can even be helpful by reducing brush, but not all areas of our forests can handle the sustained presence of cattle herds. The Task Force reviews the Mount Adams Ranger District grazing allotments on a yearly basis - due to Task Force objections, the Forest Service has closed fragile ecosystems to grazing and developed a more responsible grazing plan.

The Task Force is also a key player in monitoring the conditions of the fences along grazing allotments. In the past, poor fence maintenance has led to cattle escaping into adjacent fragile enviornments and devastating sections of pristine alpine meadows. Together with the Friends of Mount Adams, the Task Force has coordinated volunteer efforts to maintain exisiting fences and remove old, rusting fences which are no longer used.

Monitoring grazing fence-lines is a yearly activity, please see our volunteer opportunities for how you can help with this important stewardship effort.