for each othe r. The original range of the bird coincided with the range of the s age, and as the
s ag elands have been reduced, s o the populations of grous e have dwindled. The s age is all
things to thes e birds of the plains. The low s age of the foothill ranges s helters their nes ts and
their y oung; the dens er growths are loafing and roosting areas; at all times the sage provides
the s taple food of the grous e. Yet it is a two-way relationship. The s pectacular courts hip
dis plays of the cocks help loos en the s oil beneath and around the s age, aiding invasion by
grass es which grow in the s helter of s agebrus h. The antelope, too, have adjus ted thei r lives to
the sage. They are primarily animals of the plains, and in winter when the firs t s nows come
thos e that have s umme red in the mountains move down to the lowe r elevations. There the
s ag e provides the food that tides them ove r the winter. Whe re all other plants have s hed their
leaves, the sage remains evergreen, the gray-green leaves—bitter, aromatic, rich in proteins,
fats , and needed mine rals—clinging to the s tems of the dens e and s hrubby plants. Though the
s nows pile up, the tops of the sage remain expos ed, or can be reached by the s harp, pawing
hoofs of the antelope. Then grous e feed on them too, finding the m on bare and winds wept
ledges or following the antelope to feed where they have s cratched away the s now.
And other life looks to the sage. Mule deer often feed on it. Sage may mean survival for winter-
grazing livestock. Sheep graze many winter ra nges where the big s agebrus h forms almos t pure
stands. For half the year it is their principal forage, a plant of higher energy value than even
alfalfa hay. The bitter upland plains , the purple was tes of sage, the wild, s wift antelope, and the
grouse are then a natural system in perfect balance. Are? The verb mus t be changed—at least
in those already vast and growing areas where man is attempti ng to improve on nature’s way.
In the name of progres s the land management agencies have s et about to s atis fy the insatiable
demands of the cattlemen for more grazing land. By this they mean grassland—grass without
s ag e. So in a land which nature f ound s uited to gras s growing mixed with and under the s helter
of s age, it is now propos ed to eliminate the s age and create unbroken gras s land. Few s eem to
have asked whether grasslands are a stable and desirable goal in this region. Certainly nature’s
own answer was otherwise. The annual precipitation in this land where the rains seldom fall is
not e nough to s upport good s od-forming grass ; it favors rather the pe rennial bunchgras s that
grows in the s helter of the sage.
Yet the progra m of s age eradication has been under way for a numbe r of years. Several
government agencies are active in it; indus try has joined with enthus ias m to promote and
encourage an enterpris e which creates expanded markets not only for grass seed but for a large
a ss ortme nt of machines for cutting and plowing and s eeding. The newes t addition to the
weapons is the us e of chemical s prays. Now millions of acres of s agebrus h lands are s prayed
each year. What are the res ults? The eventual effects of eliminating s age and s eeding with
grass are largely conjectural. Men of long experience with the ways of the land s ay that in this
country there is bette r growth of gras s between and unde r the s age than can pos s ibly be had in
pure s tands , once the mois ture-holding s age is gone. But even if the program s ucceeds in its
immediate objective, it is clear that the whole closely knit fabric of life has been ripped apart.
The antelope and the grous e will dis appear along with the s age. The deer will s uffer, too, and
the land will be poore r for the des truc tion of the wild things that belong to it. Even the lives tock
which are the intended beneficiaries will s uffer; no amount of lus h green grass in s umme r can
help the s heep s tarving in the winter s torms for lack of the s age and bitte rbrus h and other wild
vegetation of the plains. Thes e are the firs t and obvious effects. The s econd is of a kind that is
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