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U.S. Forest Service


Improving Rangeland in the Monongahela NF

By Kathleen Goodrich-Arling on Jan 1, 2011

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Both mowing and brushing equipment were used to implement the project

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Corridors of cutting helped to create a mosaic of habitats favorable to wildlife

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Indigo buntings are often found utilizing grazing areas in the Monongahela

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped to improve rangeland in West Virginia

Livestock grazing is only one of the management outcomes of the range program on the Monongahela National Forest, in the highlands of West Virginia. The program also incorporates wildlife habitat improvements, reduction of hazardous fuels which accumulate in grassy/brushy areas, and reduction of non-native invasive species in the grazing allotments.

The range program in the Forest isn't large by western standards, at about 6,500 acres in 46 allotments, but it provides a number of benefits. The allotments offer mostly non-forested openings in an otherwise forested setting. They provide livestock owners with a place to graze their livestock during the summer months so that they may use their own lands to produce winter feed for their herds. They also provide visual diversity and vistas in the primarily forested landscape of West Virginia, allow for wildlife viewing, and are popular hunting areas for some game species.

The implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided a mechanism to meet multiple forest management objectives in grazing allotments at one time and to offer small businesses the opportunity for work. The Forest utilized $300,000 in Recovery Act funds to treat 1,940 acres; work which was bid out and ultimately awarded to a family owned and operated Appalachian business. The primary emphasis of the project was on the removal of vegetation for hazardous fuels, with integrated wildlife and range objectives. Because the equipment needed to accomplish the work was different, the project was separated into mowing work and heavy brush/woody vegetation removal.

The end results not only removed a considerable amount of built up fuels in the allotments, but opened up vistas, increased the amount of open, non-forested lands available to wildlife and to livestock, and reduced non-native invasive species in the allotments while providing work to a family business.