...according to the BLM, cattle need to devour cheatgrass on tracts that burned in the 280,000-acre Soda Fire last August in southwest Idaho. Cheatgrass is a scourge to ranchers, sage grouse and hundreds of other species that depend on the sage-steppe habitat, and causes more frequent and intense wildfires. The window for BLM action is tight -- no more than a couple of years. Cows will be a critical component in BLM’s five-year, $67 million restoration plan for the Soda Fire tracts.
Both Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) and the Public Lands Council, a ranching advocacy group, are on board with the plan.
