08/09/05 Controlling juniper

American Rancher August 9, 2005 The spread of the ever-thirsty western juniper throughout the intermountain west has caused streams to dry up and some pastures to produce nothing at all. Jerry Scanlon operates a 13-thousand acre cattle ranch near Tule Lake, California and is removing thousands of juniper trees from his land. Scanlon: "A good sized juniper tree will use up to sixty gallons a day. They just take all the moisture, enough so that all other vegetation, shrubs, forbs and desirable feed for wildlife and livestock disappears." By removing the junipers ranchers have found natural streams coming back and pastures greening up but Scanlon says you have to do more than just thinning. Scanlon: "We have cleared about between four and five-thousand acres of juniper. So you get to understand the benefits. You see the results and the benefits. You have to understand how to remove junipers. Some people think you can thin them. And that is a waste of time. If you thin them out, I mean go in and cut every other one, the remaining ones do better and still take all the moisture." Earlier this year the USDA's Agricultural Research Service held a field day in Idaho where the benefits of controlled burning was demonstrated. Three years after the burn a landscape once dominated by junipers now has a diversity of plant life. I'm Bob Hoff.