Why We Comment on Proposed State and Federal Rules

Why We Comment on Proposed Federal and State Rules

SACPA’s ranching members are continually burdened to prove their innocence against false accusations that can lead to litigious and regulatory threats to their livelihoods. The potential consequences of predatory regulation threaten the very fabric of the unique culture and heritage of Arizona’s extended ranching families. We created this page to demonstrate our honest and firm commitment to ecologically friendly, science-based grazing management. We believe in what we do because…

Managed Livestock Grazing is Environmentally Sustainable

Contrary to the dishonest messages drummed daily into gullible ears, well-managed livestock grazing is environmentally sustainable. That is why. . .

Livestock have Grazed Southwestern Rangelands for Nearly 500 years.
Livestock first arrived in southern Arizona by the year 1531 and have been grazing here ever since. The long history of grazing of rangelands that are now part of the Coronado National Forest and other national protected areas provides evidence that ranching is an entirely sustainable and, in many ways, environmentally beneficial activity.

Despite numerous severe droughts and even the excessive numbers of livestock during the early history of ranching in the area (up to more than ten times the density of cattle numbers stocked today), threatened and endangered species are found predominantly on cattle ranches, attesting to the compatibility of livestock grazing and wildlife protection.

Click here to download Dennis Parker’s “Chronology of Livestock Grazing in Southern Arizona.”

How Controlled Grazing Benefits Wildlife and the Environment
Numerous peer-reviewed papers recently published in prestigious scientific journals identify some of the many environmental benefits of Controlled Grazing. Click here to download a list of citations to publications showing the benefits of Controlled Grazing.