Sad to say that after a few hundred years of man-induced degradation and fragmentation -- since early European settlement of Texas and other range states and regions -- most of our country's most productive rangelands -- including desert, prairie, savanna, and forest types -- have been converted into agriculturally and ecologically ruined landscapes consisting of
- abandoned homesteads, barns, and windmills
- piles of worn-out equipment, junk, and debris
- broken-down fences
- grown-up fence-lines
- sterile soils
- soil erosion
- invading weeds, cactus, and brush
- invasive species of grasses and woody plant
- small family farms
- high-input hobby ranches and horse farms
- tame pastures
- industrial agricultural operations -- i.e., big-business irrigated farms, hog farms, chicken houses, plant farms, dairies, feedlots, packing plants, etc.
- exotic game reserves
- ranchettes
- country housing
- hilltop mansions
- roads and freeways
- race tracks
- airports
- convenient stores
- rural sub-divisions
- manufacturing plants
- strip mines
- oil well drilling sites
- oil refiners
- natural gas plants
- garbage dumps
- other signs of human activity and development.
The immediate losers of the above reality are our country's full-time working ranchers, working cowboys, health conscious consumers, and range-dependent native wildlife. The long-term losers are the agricultural and ecological welfare of our country, and the environmental welfare of our planet.
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