Fisheries habitat - Fish and crazing relationships: The facts and some pleas

Information on the relationships or linkages between Livestock grazing and fishes in the western and southwestern United States is sparse. Although mu ch information in the literature demonstrates the direct impact of livestoc k grazing (herbivory) on vegetation and less on streambanks (trampling, com paction), limited information on the indirect effects of grazing on fishes and their habitats (e.g., channel morphology, streambanks, cover, instream substrates, water column characteristics) exists. Further most available in formation is not scientifically derived and/or addresses salmonids and dome stic livestock only. In the southwestern United States, cypriniform species of fishes and large, wild ungulates, especially elk, must be considered cr itical components of the "fish-grazing" management and research paradigm. F uture management and research must address these two components within the context of linkages to watersheds, riparian areas, riparian habitats, fish habitat, and fish communities (native versus introduced species). Efforts m ust embrace adaptive management, intra- and interagency management-research partnerships, and data collection rather than opinions, summarizations, an d promotion of the litany of information on fish-grazing relationships that often has been adopted as fact.