Defciencies in the Briske et al. Rebuttal of the Savory Method

Abstract

Clinging to past viewpoints and techniques based on a lim- ited and small subset of knowledge on the subject of range- land grazing management is not helpful. The knowledge base used by Briske et al.1 stems from a very poor understanding of Holistic Planned Grazing and poorly executed grazing ex- periments (see the work of Teague et al. ).2 To make sweeping statements such as “The Savory method cannot green deserts or reverse climate change” is particularly misleading. It ig- nores the fact that many ranchers operating in low rainfall areas from 10 to 15 inches, areas so bare of vegetation that most people would call them deserti ed, have managed to restore vegetation, ecosystem function, and productivity us- ing Holistic Planned Grazing when even complete removal of livestock had failed to achieve any restoration. Only if the comment refers to true deserts receiving almost no rainfall would the statement possibly be true. 

DOI: 10.2458/azu_rangelands_v35i6_teague