Rangelands

Sheepshead Mountain in the BLM Burns District. Photo by Mark Armstrong, BLM.

In Oregon and Washington, the BLM administers approximately 14 million acres of rangelands.

These arid and semiarid lands stretch from the salt and alkali deserts of the Humboldt River drainage in extreme southern Oregon to the glaciated highlands of the Okanogan in northern Washington. The diverse climates, terrains, soils, and plants of the region call for an approach to land management that is respectful of the characteristics of individual sites and incorporates those characteristics into management decisions.

In managing rangeland ecosystems, the BLM conducts monitoring and rangeland health assessments to assess watershed function, ecological processes, water quality and habitats for native and threatened and endangered species.

Management of these lands is focused on restoring rangeland health where necessary and maintaining healthy landscapes where they currently exist.

Treatments like prescribed burning, rehabilitation of burned lands, fencing, water developments, juniper management, weed control and implementing planned grazing systems are aimed at land health restoration and maintenance.

Much of the BLM-administered rangelands are grazed by livestock under a system of permits and leases in which ranchers pay grazing fees for the privilege of use.