Jourdonnais and Bedunah assessed the use of prescribed fire and cattle grazing in the dormant season to try and improve forage quality for elk in the Sun River Wildlife Management Area. The exclusion of cattle grazing since 1947 has caused litter build up in the rough fescue community and has decreased its production and quality. Cattle were put back on the area from mid-October to late December in 1983, adjacent to patches that burned in fall and early April. Elk used 72% of rough fescue plants found within the fall burn sites and 28% within the grazing treatment. Control sites only had 9% use of fescue plants. Grazing and burning are effective tools to reduce litter accumulation on rough fescue grasslands, controlled many years ago by bison grazing and natural wildfires.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.