By using paired watersheds in northwestern Nevada, Myers and Swanson assessed the long-term recovery, after abusive grazing, of watershed scale livestock exclosures and rest rotation grazing, as well as the limitations to that recovery. They compared changes due to heavy flooding and drought within a 14-year period. Both study streams improved since 1976, when heavy, season-long grazing ended. Stability and tree cover increased, while sedimentation decreased, without regard to grazing treatment. The fact that conditions improved on Summer Camp Creek (SCC) and Mahogany Creek (MC) suggests that long-term recovery is consistent with rest rotation grazing, where rest occurred in 9 of 14 years. However, the bank stability decrease due to flooding, after two years of grazing, suggests that additional rest for SCC at the beginning of the study period may have been necessary. Sheep grazing, after several additional years of recovery, did not apparently have detrimental effects on SCC. Pool quality and quantity on each stream decreased because of coarse woody debris removal and sediment deposition during a drought. Fine stream bottom sediments decreased five years after the removal of livestock, but sedimentation increased during low flows in both streams and below road crossings. This study provides examples of how management can substantially improve aquatic habitat conditions, and also how geology and past management may limit the options of contemporary managers.
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