Dead Soils, Lost Roots, and the Path to Recovering the West
To understand how to heal the land, we have to remember what was lost—and what still survives in hidden patches of ungrazed land.
Aug 27, 2025, @WesternWatershedsProject
"From the sagebrush-steppe of the Intermountain West to the coastal prairies of Point Reyes National Seashore, it is crucial to to restoring native perennial grasslands to understand what makes up a healthy ecosystem.
"Widespread and heavy cattle and sheep grazing have degraded or eliminated much of the native bunchgrasses that were important components of western grasslands. We have reconstructed a baseline visual model of how a generalized thriving perennial grassland community might have appeared within 500 years prior to European contact in North America.
[...]
"The process can be reversed, and progress can be made in setting the path toward recovery and restoration of the original grasslands. Ungrazed or little-grazed native grassland relicts in parks, fenced livestock exclosures, and inaccessible spots like cliffs can give us clues as to what the land used to be like. But the removal of the primary stressor is absolutely necessary to begin this healing: the cattle and domestic sheep must go."
Learn more:
https://westernwatersheds.substack.com/p/dead-soils-lost-roots-and-the-path
#SoilRestoration #NativeGrasses #Restoring #Rewilding #CattleGrazing #SheepGrazing #SolarPunkSunday #SoilIsLife