Alter a stream's water quality through fecal inputs and sediment caused by trampling. Remove streamside vegetation that is an important source of nutrients for aquatic insects salmon feed on. But in degraded systems it's tougher, especially where the salmon are just hanging on. If you ask the question, what's the most rapid way to recover an ecosystem, it's complete rest. Bill Krueger, head of OSU's Department of Rangeland Resources, works with a lot of ranchers.
People trying to do a good job managing resources are probably neutral.
People setting out to enhance salmon probably are. Ranchers are living with the legacy of the past. From what I've seen, many of today's ranchers are trying to do something positive. They can be doing all the right things and not meet the expectations of a lot of groups in, say, a five-year period. Many places in eastern Oregon are dry, and it may take 50 or 100 years.