POLICY ROOTS OF LAND DEGRADATION IN THE ARID REGION OF THE UNITED-STATES - AN OVERVIEW

The roots of land degradation in the arid region of the United States are set firmly in the era of open range conditions that led to the dep letion of rangeland resources in the late 19th and early 20th centurie s. Upon closure of the open range and establishment of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, public lands in the arid r egion were protected from the classic tragedy of the commons. Private lands, in turn, fell under the stewardship guidance of such organizati ons as the Soil Conservation Service, the Agricultural Stabilization a nd Conservation Service, and the Cooperative Extension Service. Despit e these institutional protections, arid land degradation continues at an ecologically and socially unacceptable rate. The most likely explan ation for this degradation resides in the institutions and public poli cies that shape and control livestock grazing. Flaws and disincentives endemic to the grazing permit system have encouraged destructive graz ing. Federal subsidies to public- and private-land ranchers have encou raged rangeland stocking rates in excess of carrying capacity on econo mically and ecologically marginal lands and consistently favored unsou nd land management practices over superior ones. Policy-generated dist ortions of market forces have lead to unanticipated and environmentall y undesirable land use outcomes. Land management, technical support, a nd educational institutions have also inadvertently contributed to lan d degradation in the arid region. Reversing the trend of land degradat ion in an advanced country like the United States demands that we unde rstand the role of public policy in land use outcomes and that we stru cture future public policies in accordance with the lessons of recent history.