[Cdt-l] Cattle Dung Trail (was: Cattle Divide Trail )

[Mark Dixon]

If you only saw 2 instances of overgrazing in New Mexico you either weren't
in New Mexico or you don't know how to identify the effects of overgrazing.
I agree that there would be no CDT through much of New Mexico without the
windmills and pumps used to water cattle, but that has nothing to do with
overgrazing. Equally, consuming beef has nothing to do with overgrazing.
Overgrazing has to do with the long term change in native species
composition in fragile desert ecosystems, destruction of riparian areas and
stream banks, erosion, and spread of invasive species. I doubt you have the
ability to assess any of these from a simple walk through of the country. Go
where you want with your opinions about cattle and development of the
western US, but it sounds like the myth of the cow and the cowboy lives on
in your mind.

MD
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