Regional riparian research and a multi-university approach to the special problem of livestock grazing in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains

A selected survey of Rocky Mountain/Great Plains riparian research with emphasis on livestock grazing impacts and management is presented. A multiuniversity plan for studying interactions between livestock grazing and riparian resources in the region is presented. The power of an integrated, regionwide approach is compared with that of one involving the conduct of numerous independent, site-specific studies. An analogy is made to California, considering the State as a region. The need for support of long-term riparian research by traditional academic funding sources is also stressed. Published in California Riparian Systems: Ecology, Conservation, and Productive Management, on pages 413 - 423, in 1984.