Years of research helped foresters to piece together a picture of poor forest management based on a lack of knowledge of the ponderosa pine ecosystem. A combination of factors including the rarity of natural ponderosa propagation except during intermittent bumper years, livestock grazing, and fire suppression were acting to create an unnatural and less-healthy forest. In the 1960s, the United States Forest Service began incorporating a policy of sustained planning and multiple use management in an effort to balance grazing, logging and recreation interests. Today, experimental restoration treatments are underway in the ponderosa pine forest at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, and larger-scale treatments are being planned. The Forest Service, recognizing the radical change in the health and structure of the region's pine forests over the last century, is thinning and burning certain areas in an attempt to restore ecosystem health and lessen fire danger.
Grazing continues only on private landholdings.
The Navajo Nation holds much of the grazing allotments on the north side of the mountain, but does not actively graze animals there.