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Couple of other points. Ranches in eastern Oregon and Nevada are usually made up of maybe 250 acres of deeded land and 25,000 acres of leased land. If it was not for the leased land, ranches in these areas would be non-existant. Not sure of the figures, but NV is about 98% federally owned - go figure... In eastern Oregon its about the same.... I know one ranch of 200,000 acres and only about 13,000 is deeded... Hey, you folks in the east, do any of you have any idea how big that is???? The Hearst ranch in Kalifornia is over 320,000 acres - over 500 sq miles...leased to the government..love it!!!!!

This is real hard for me to comprehend, all land in Texas is privately owned except for a tad here and there. What business does the government have owning state territory? This flies in the face of sovereign states, it's rediculous, how did this happen and why didn't the citizens slap their elected state officals in the face and make them do right?

To help non-ranchers understand that these 'huge' ranches are'nt really huge.....

A producer may be able to run two cow-calf pairs on well maintained, irrigated pasturage of a single acre........there are many places in the United States (think high desert areas, like Nevada, parts of Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, etc), based on the forage that grows naturally (non-irrigated, native grasses/bushes), it often times takes 30 acres or more to run one cow-calf pair!!

Before folks jump the gun and suggest that the domestic livestock just get off the range.....please consider that their grazing enhances the growth of forage making it better for ALL animals! Additionally, it is possible to feed domesticated livestock grains with seeds which are passed thru their digestive system which, after passing thru and being deposited in a pile of natural fertilizer and awaiting the occasional rain/snow, will take root and increase forage for all animals.