Post-Grazing Changes of Vegetation in Big Bend National Park, Texas: A 50-Year Perspective (Report‪)‬

In 1942, the state of Texas purchased many of the cattle and goat ranches that comprised much of southern Brewster County, and gave them to the federal government for creation of the first national park in Texas (Maxwell, 1985). The National Park Service manages resources with the aesthetic interests of visitors and concerns for ecological sensitivity as their highest priorities (Sellers, 1997). Thus, unlike many lands administered by the federal government, the National Park Service allows little use and manipulation of resources; this is intended to ensure an unimpaired landscape that protects ecological systems and biological diversity (Sellers, 1997). With establishment of Big Bend National Park in 1944, a unique opportunity arose in which comparisons of land-management practices could be observed in the Trans-Pecos ecoregion of Texas. The existence of Big Bend National Park allows investigators to study effects of grazing years after it has ceased. This is of particular interest because much of the Trans-Pecos in western Texas is owned privately and either has been or is being grazed (Powell, 1998). Further, in this ecoregion, impacts have been documented on vegetative communities as a result of grazing (Wondzell, 1984).