[landowner]

Originally Posted by thumper

Deer, elk, perhaps even moose can do well with cattle. But not entire, natural communities. There's a big difference between land and its diversity of creatures that evolved with constantly moving herds of bison, and land and waterbodies that now contains fenced-in cattle.

Visit a few of Alberta's 'Natural Areas' where no cattle are permitted, or a few Nature Conservancy properties, most of which exclude cattle, or even some of those Ducks Unlimited properties where cattle are excluded, and you can see the difference for yourself.

I'm thankful to hunt grazing leases, with their abundance of deer & elk and moose, but if I want to photograph a wide variety of native flowers & plants, birds, small wildlife or insects - I head for areas protected from grazing cattle.

Anecdotally, elk, in particular, do very well in my yard in Canmore, but that doesn't make my land holding much a wildlife sanctuary!

Don’t know of any Nature Conservancy properties that excludes grazing.( not in SW AB anyway) they promote grazing to encourage biodiversity, and fire suppression. Their studies show that wildlife benifits from a. Proper grazing plan .