Ranching
"Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever...or you shall learn nothing." —T. H. Huxley
Ranching has an amazing appeal to many; it has been romanticized and
televised until we think that the western ranch man is the enviable
ideal, the one most in harmony with nature and the way things are
supposed to be. But let's take away the charisma of Hollywood and
look at ranching for what it really is.1
It must be realized that cattle and sheep as we know them are completely unnatural to earth in general. The kinds that we know today are manmade. There are very few of the original animals left from which these poor replicas have descended. The earth was not made to withstand the intense abuse from so many cloven-footed, herbaceous critters with tight herding instincts that make them all the harsher on the ground and plant life.
West of the Mississippi River, 700 million
acres of grassland have been permanently damaged or destroyed. Over
3,000 indigenous plant species, subspecies or varieties are highly
endangered, and nearly 900 are already 
extinct.
In just 20 years the carrying capacity of the land went from 2-5
acres per cow to 20-25 acres per cow. Where 80 years ago there were
vast expanses of grasses so tall they were well over the backs of the
cattle, today there is barren wilderness of mostly dirt with a few
tumbleweeds and other insignificant plants that merely serve as major
fire hazards.
This has created another inevitable problem,
that of erosion. With no roots to hold the soil, this valuable ground
easily washes away. It is not only the lack of roots, but the animals
themselves create major erosion. When just standing still on all
fours, cattle
exert as much as 24 pounds of pressure per square inch. Of course,
when they choose to rest a leg or are moving, that pressure becomes a
lot greater. The tread of herds rips up what sod there is, stirs the
top soil and dislodges rocks, which is virtually the only thing left
to help hold the soil in place. Naturally, this makes for more eroding.
Also, because of the animals' constant tread,
the under-layers of soil become compacted, creating a hardpan. Now
this may not sound so earthshattering, but it prevents the aeration
of the ground. Underground water is no longer able circulate, and
rain cannot penetrate this hard earth. Plants cannot grow either
because they cannot sink their roots 
down
into the hardened soil.
Unfortunately, the animals are also grazed in the few forested areas of the West. The trees quickly become food and die due to girdling, high concentrations of manure and urine, and the stripping of leaves and limbs. Waterways are quickly polluted and damaged from the animals standing, eating in, or stomping through them. Natural damns are in this way broken, and aquatic plant and animal life destroyed. Many of the waterways and swamp areas are dried up as a result.
As
if earth's delicate ecosystem were indestructible, there is an
all-out war waged on any critter that might even remotely interfere
with the ranching industry. Countless thousands of animals are
ruthlessly shot, trapped, poisoned, burned alive, mutilated, tortured
and killed.
Take, for example, the cute and sociable prairie dog. They were
poisoned, gassed and burned, and suddenly the black-footed ferret,
the gorgeous California condor, and many other creatures disappeared
along with them.
Rattlesnakes, which many would not think twice
of killing, are just as sensitive, with fully developed nervous
systems, yet are brutally murdered. 2
Coyotes, mountain lions, wolves and bobcats, to mention just a few of
the innocent sufferers, are maligned, pursued and tortured. The babies
are trapped in their dens, then the dens are ignited, with no option
of escape. Adults are trapped, shot and poisoned. Many suffer for
days in merciless leg traps without food or water. At the sight of
man they assume a posture of submission and humility, in their own
way pleading for mercy, only to be clubbed and trampled to death by
the rancher or state official responsible for protecting the ranching
industry .
Millions
of animals are killed, injured and crippled each year. One year's
totals were 4,594,088 animals intentionally killed, including
domestic cats and dogs, and 6,448 animals inadvertently killed. 3
Who pays for this abuse of all life? Mainly taxpayers! They also pay
for much of the land that is used by ranchers for grazing. In fact,
ranchers use 70 percent of America's West for grazing their
livestock. Most of this land is public and paid for by tax dollars.
And when the land cannot bear up under this unlawful exploitation,
the government uses tax dollars to "refurbish" the ranges
with exotic plants. So public money is being used to kill public
wildlife, on public taxpayer refurbished land, with no public input,
and all to help a few heavily subsidized farmers and ranchers to
further exploit the land and animals. 4a.gif)
Somehow this just doesn't sound like a system in harmony with God's kingdom of life and love. Nor can I see God smiling down at this unfortunate display of human pride and selfishness. God would have us model His kingdom here in our daily lives.
All rights reserved Copyright © 2006 By J. Lee