Other literature reviews have concluded that livestock production was the leading cause of decline in native plant species in the West, as well as one of the major agents responsible for the spread of weeds and exotics. A fourth myth is that access to public lands supports the family rancher. Grazing subsidies, like most agricultural subsidies, disproportionately benefits large land holders. This gives the larger landowners, many of them corporations or extremely wealthy individuals, a competitive advantage over small operators. This is inequality is a factor of the way public lands allotments are distributed.
Access is based upon ownership of private base operations.
The wealthy ranchers own more land, thus more base property, hence wind up with more federal lands allotments. A fifth myth perpetuated by the livestock community is that we know how to manage rangelands. In reality our knowledge of rangeland ecosystems is minimal. Most range professionals know almost nothing about rangelands other than a bit about a few of the dominant grass species. The effects of livestock production on soils, lichens, insects, watersheds, wildlife and most ecological processes is virtually unknown.