If tall grasses are not allowed to go through senescence, they lose a competitive advantage with the short grasses. If cattle are allowed to graze during the winter only, they will likely prefer the short grasses over the tall grasses because the short grasses will be the only ones that are growing. Tjhis would give the advantage back to the tall grasses. Winter grazing is not an economically viable activity for ranchers. Unless cattle were supplemented with some other food source, they would likely lose weight if they were forced to graze during the winter.
Fire can be a double-edged sword in grassland management.
Some invasive species are averse to fire, but some nuisance species, like the ubiquitous knapweed, actually thrive after fires burn off the competition. Fire is, therefor, a technique that must be applied judiciously when used as a means of reducing threats from non-native species. Summer grazing is part of contractual agreements made by the City with ranchers when the open space was purchased tying the hands of conservation workers, to some degree. When asked what he would do if he were in charge of the management of Boulder s tall grass prairie, Seastedt said that management had so far been conducted well except for summer grazing. He would apply fires more frequently and in a larger number of locations, and he would employ some sort of winter grazing regime.