Comprehensive Evaluation Report

Livestock and Range Management 21
Over 96% of the Grasslands are used by permit-holders to graze their cattle excluding the areas where
developed recreation, administrative, research sites and exclosures designed to protect resource values are
designated.
Permittees typically integrate grazing on the Grasslands with a livestock management strategy that
extends across the surrounding private lands. Livestock management on the Grasslands is managed based
on environmental analyses, allotment management plans, annual operating instructions, and monitoring.
There is no indication that there will be a major increase or decrease in grazing on the Grasslands over the
next 20 years; however, cattle numbers and strategies are expected to continue to fluctuate in response to
drought, wildfire, prescribed fire, and other factors that change range conditions.
Livestock grazing on the Grasslands has generated few user conflicts. Ranchers occasionally express
concerns about hunters and other Grasslands visitors cutting fences or leaving gates open, which impacts
their grazing strategy and increases costs. Continuing current management should provide for affordable
grazing on the Grasslands that contributes to the rural ranching lifestyle, culture, and economy while
promoting ecosystem sustainability and trends toward reference conditions without compromising other
land uses.
Relationships between the grazing permittees and Forest Service are necessarily close, as they work in
partnership to maintain range facilities, monitor forage production and utilization, and determine
appropriate stocking levels and the timing of allowable use. Adjustments to stocking levels or grazing
management strategies continue to be made in Annual Operating Plans as needed based on site-specific
conditions. These partnerships will remain vital to local communities and are projected to remain stable.
Oil and Gas 22
Rich natural gas resources underlie some units of the Grasslands. This resource contributes to meeting the
nation’s energy needs while supporting the local and regional economy and maintaining a lifestyle in a
rural area that has declining populations and limited economic opportunities. The Grasslands may also
play an important future role in alternative energy developments such as wind and solar power.
There are currently 37 active oil-gas wells on Black Kettle and McClellan Creek National Grasslands, and
none on the Kiowa or Rita Blanca National Grasslands. Geologic analyses recently completed indicate
that while there may be increases in the number of oil-gas wells on the Black Kettle for a few more years,
oil-gas development in the area is expected to decline over the next 20-50 years as the wells lose
productivity.
There is very low potential for economically viable oil or gas development on Kiowa or Rita Blanca
National Grasslands. Oil and gas well sites on the Grasslands require little land (1-3 acres each) and short
access roads (less than 1 mile). Under current leasing stipulations and conditions of approval, these
activities on the Grasslands must meet stringent environmental industry standards including restoring
closed sites to native grasslands.
The projected long-term declines in oil-gas production on the Grasslands and the associated rehabilitation
of oil and gas sites should improve vegetative cover and soil productivity in those localized areas, which
in turn will improve ecosystem and wildlife habitat conditions in those areas. Continuing current
management trends is expected to continue to contribute to rural economies and national energy demands
without incurring conflicts with other land uses or risks to ecological sustainability.
21
USDA 2011b p. 20-21
22
USDA 2011b p. 18
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