Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Montana Wildlife
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Cattle grazing is a common landuse on public land in the Intermountain West that often has varied and complex effects on wildlife. However, many previous studies of wildlife response to grazing compared grazed vs. ungrazed treatments, ignoring the dynamic nature of grazing and the many levels of grazing intensity and frequency commonly utilized. We are undertaking the current study to better understand the response of 1) small mammals to the frequency of cattle grazing in wet meadow habitats and 2) breeding season occupancy of long-billed curlews and sandhill cranes in grazed grasslands on Red Rock Lakes, NWR.