Rangeland: Land on which the natural potential (climax) plant cover is principally native grasses, grasslike plants, and shrubs. It includes natural grasslands, savannahs, certain shrubs and grasslike lands, most deserts, tundra, alpine communities, coastal marshlands, and wet meadows. It also includes lands that are re-vegetated naturally or artificially and are managed like native vegetation. The United States has 399 million acres of non-federal rangeland, about 30% of all non-federal rural lands, according to the 1992 National Resources Inventory. The BLM manages approximately 167 million acres of federal rangelands, and the Forest Service manages approximately 95 million acres of federal rangelands.

 

Related Words

Rangeland: Land on which the natural potential (climax) plant cover is principally native grasses, grasslike plants, and shrubs. It includes natural grasslands, savannahs, certain shrubs and grasslike . . . View Full Definition

Public Rangelands Improvement Act Of 1978 (PRIA): P.L. 95-514 (October 25, 1978) defines the current grazing fee formula and establishes rangeland monitoring and inventory procedures for Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service rangelan . . . View Full Definition

Forest And Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act Of 1974 (RPA): Provides authority to the Forest Service to prepare and update an assessment every 10 years to inventory and monitor the status and trends of the forest lands and range lands in the National . . . View Full Definition

Range Betterment Fund: Money collected from livestock grazing on federal lands and used for rangeland improvements. The Bureau of Land Management calls these funds Range Improvement Funds and uses them solely for . . . View Full Definition