By Doug Warnock
Wildfire has become an increasing disturbance of sagebrush ecosystems in the Western United States in recent years. While these lands evolved with fire, in recent years fires start earlier in the growing season and have increased in intensity. Much of this change is attributed to the increase in non-native annual grasses, mainly cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae). Cattle grazing is a good tool to reduce or manage the amount of fire fuel in an area. With the development of virtual fencing, the means of controlling where the animals graze and how much forage they remove, may become easier.
A team of scientists conducted a study in Southeastern Oregon to test the use of virtual fencing in establishing fire breaks. The team included Chad Boyd, Rory O’Conner, Jon Bates, and Kirk Davies, US Department of Agriculture Research Service, Burns OR; Juliana Ranches, David Bohnert, and Dustin Johnson, Oregon State University, Burns, OR; Todd Parker, Vence Corp, San Diago, CA; and Kevin Doherty, US Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Lakewood, CO.
The purpose of the fire breaks is partly to create fuel conditions that can slow or halt the spread of fire, but the predominant reason is to create a safe space for fire operations personnel to stage and conduct fire suppression activities. The virtual fence system used in this study was designed and manufactured by Vence Corporation.
The study was conducted within a perimeter-fenced 410 hectare (1,013 acres) pasture at the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range, located about 55 miles west of Burns, Oregon.
This study showed that fuel breaks are an important tool for managing the spread of wildfire in large rangeland areas of the western United States and that importance is growing due to the increasing presence of wildfire in these landscapes. Cattle grazing is an effective way to manage fuel for the purpose of reducing the impact of fires on these large rangelands. This study shows that virtual fencing is effective in confining grazing to the targeted areas and accomplishing the desired fuel reduction.
This study agrees with a small but growing body of evidence indicating that virtual fencing is effective for a variety of livestock management applications. One study showed that virtual fencing was effective as a way to keep livestock out of sensitive riparian areas. Still, another one showed the effectiveness of virtual fencing excluding livestock from burned sagebrush steppe rangeland. An additional study showed virtual fencing effectively controlled the grazing distribution of dairy cattle.
Virtual fencing offers a system that influences cattle distribution to manage fine fuels inside fuel break boundaries. Its advantage over permanent fencing is that it can be easily changed as the need for fuel breaks changes. Virtual fencing allows managers to make needed changes without investing in permanent infrastructure, such as standard wire fencing.
Doug Warnock, retired from Washington State University Extension, lives on a ranch in the Touchet River Valley where he writes about and teaches grazing management. He can be contacted at dwarnockgreenerpastures@gmail.com.