At the end of one of the biggest fire seasons in the West's recent history, ranching interests already have started lobbying federal agencies for redress for the damage done by the spate of fires and using it as a springboard to roll back environmental protections currently in force. If they prevail, Western fires are only bound to get worse for the simple reason that the destructiveness of recent fires is largely the result of over a century of livestock grazing and fire suppression. The work of scientists like Dr. Steven Pyne at Arizona State University and Dr. Joy Belsky in Oregon has shown how a history of fire suppression and continued policies of grazing on public grasslands and forests are the underlying causes of today's destructive fires, particularly in the Southwest.
Native grasses are keystone species in ponderosa pine ecosystems of the Southwest.
They prevent erosion, help water soak down into the aquifer and provide wildlife habitat. But they also play a key role in forest structure. Frequent grass fires stopped fuel accumulation on the forest floor and thinned out pine seedlings. With the arrival of sheep and cows, the normal fire cycle was broken. Pine seedlings began to survive in great abundance.