Seasonal Dependence on Federal Forage in Colorado

Abstract

Thirty-six percent of Colorado is federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management, which provides approximately 2.4 million AUM's of grazing for domestic livestock. This represents 28% of the total forage resources used by the 2200 ranchers that use federal forage in Colorado. Seasonal dependence on federal forage is greatest in summer, averaging over 50%. High seasonal dependence where few viable alternative forage sources exist makes federal forage critical to Colorado ranchers. Dependence on federal forage also varies with ranch size. Dependence varies inversely with size of cattle ranches, but varies directly with size of sheep ranches.