Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching [Paperback]

Lynn Jacobs (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 602 pages
• Publisher: Lynn Jacobs (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962938602
• ISBN-13: 978-0962938603
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,249,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best account of the problems of grazing on public land, April 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching (Paperback)

Lynn Jacobs has compiled extensive research on the negative impacts of cattle grazing on public land across the western U.S. and beyond. "Waste of the West" captures the duplicity of the public lands agencies, primarilly the BLM, in "managing" our public lands, not for true multiple public uses such as hiking or camping, but to allow unfettered accesses for one thing, the cow.

Jacobs details the ecological damage that results from cattle grazing in the arid west. From destruction of essential riparian habitat for birds and river species, to the denuded hills and valleys resulting from the all-consuming nature of the cow. In areas that once flourished with native fish and wildlife, the cow, in numerous cases, has chewed and trampled these biologically rich zones down to little more than dirt. Jacobs elucidates this point with numerous photos of cattle-ravaged lands.

With "Waste of the West's" rich mix of policy and ecology centered around the issue of cattle grazing, anyone even remotely interested in the protection of our public lands would be irresponsible to leave this volume unread.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please READ IT and decide for yourself, September 13, 2004

By 

Puncture Vine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching (Paperback)

Do a google search for this title and find its written contents online (minus the pictures). The "real" version is definitely worth it, however, since pictures don't lie. There are hundreds of them. Eyeball the fenceline contrasts and exclosures (areas fenced off from grazing) and see the true impact of irresponsible grazing. Get an eyefull of a pile of cougar heads, burned-alive coyote pups and other "vermin" killed with your tax dollars under the guise of "predator control."

Ignore the reviewers who give this book a zero. One asserts that the book shows no knowledge about western ecosystems, yet the reviewer provides not one fact to support that argument. Take a look at the other books she's reviewed...she doesn't strike me as anyone in the position to make any assertion about ecosystems and science. She even gets the sex of the author wrong...and this is someone who has actually READ this book? Give me a break... There is an extensive bibliography FULL of "science"...show me the last time the public lands ranching industry has tried a similar effort to justify their practices?

Yes the book talks about "welfare ranching," and hard work has nothing to do with it. Most ranching families DO work hard; this books says nothing to the contrary. But a black single mother in Chicago getting federal $$$ is labeled a welfare mother, but ranchers getting free fencing, dirt-cheap grazing rental rates on federal land, federally-funded water and road projects, etc. etc....this "American individualism and hard work"??? Call a spade a spade... One of the many dirty secrets the ranching community would like you to ignore.

The other reviewer states that ranchers are politically powerless. You've GOT to be kidding...and you're writing out of the state of Wyoming? Read the book and the pages and pages of examples of how well-connected and politically-powerful ranching interests have kept the laws working in their favor over the years. It is also noteable that the reviewer concedes the main point of the book: abuse of public lands at the hands of ranchers. But then the focus is shifted to another issue entirely: development. Development is certainly a concern, but the "cows or condos" bumper-stickers cleverly overshadow a third choice: neither.

Read this and decide for yourself.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have resource for any environmental advocate., April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching (Paperback)

By far this is one of the most important pieces of information that the public must know about. Jacobs details the paramount damage ranching has done to our public lands. If you care about our planet, the west, wildlife, and even your own health, this is a must read. Certainly a worthy investment for our future.