jedstivers":2d8i3lgw said:
I still have some places they should be plentiful because the land use is still the same. They aren't there.
We have had thousands and thousands of bottom acres put in WRP in this area. That's a 99 year contract to go back in these and they build water structures on it to. Anyway it's planted in hardwoods and it starts growing up in grass. The quail really take off for a fer years but I think it's short lived as the ground cover gets thicker and now most of the WRP has hogs and fire ants on it.
I think the CRP is the same. Seemed to me that places that people rented for cattle production previously and had good numbers, went to pot quicker under CRP management than places still in production.
Cattle have been documented to be good for wildlife diversity on mountain terrain/BLM lands as well.
The land was intended to be grazed--- buffalo, bovines, whatever... it was intended to be utilized. Add that wild fires and even prescribed burning just aren't common anymore.
When the county decided to start charging for direct costs incurred from fires that get away from people, the number of people burning dropped significantly. Probably not a good thing. Especially because of cedar trees.