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Janet Binns <br />July 15, 2015 <br />Page 5 <br />Pin Cherry: The USDA Plants website, contains no ranking for a Palatable Browse Animal <br />and Palatable Graze Animal for this species. This website also lacks a Fact Sheet or Plant <br />Guide for this species. The Forest Service list does not contain this species. <br />SingleleafAsh: The USDA Plants website, contains no ranking for a Palatable Browse <br />Animal and Palatable Graze Animal for this species. This website also lacks a Fact Sheet or <br />Plant Guide for this species. The Forest Service list does not contain this species. <br />Rubber Rabbitbrush: The USDA Plants website, contains no ranking for Palatable Browse <br />Animal or Palatable Graze Animal ranking for this species. The plant Fact Sheet reports that <br />this species "has marginal value for livestock but is an important browse species for wildlife <br />during the winter months. " Use is typically highest during the winter. The Plant Guide <br />reports that it "provides cover for small mammals and birds ... " The Forest Service list does <br />not contain this species. <br />Hoptree: The USDA Plants website, contains no ranking for a Palatable Browse Animal or <br />Palatable Graze Animal for this species. This website lacks a Fact Sheet or Plant Guide for <br />this species. The Forest Service list does not contain this species. <br />Virgin's Blower: The USDA Plants website, contains no ranking for a Palatable Browse <br />Animal or Palatable Graze Animal for this species. This website lacks a Fact Sheet and a <br />Plant Guide for this species. The Forest Service list does not contain this species. <br />Yellow Rabbitbrush: The USDA Plants website, contains rankings for Palatable Browse <br />Animal and Palatable Graze Animal of low for this species. The Plant Guide for this species <br />reports that it is "browsed by large game and livestock " The Forest Service reports that this <br />species provides "an important source of browse for livestock and wildlife, particularly in the <br />late fall and early summer after more palatable species have been depleted. " <br />Big Sagebrush: The USDA Plants website, reports that the Palatable Browse Animal and <br />Palatable Graze Animal rankings are low for this species The plant Fact Sheet reports that the <br />"leaves are high in protein but the bitter resinous taste prevents excessive grazing by cattle. " <br />Wildlife use of this species is reported to be high for many species. Use by wildlife and <br />livestock is typically highest during the winter. The Plant Guide reports that "use of <br />sagebrush by livestock is limited and variable. " With respect to wildlife use, this species is <br />called "perhaps the most important shrub on western rangelands. " The Plant Guide reports <br />that this plant is an "excellent season long browse for deer." It is also reported to be a good <br />'food source " and provides "excellent cover" for many species of birds and small mammals. <br />The Forest Service summary does not include this species. <br />Grazing studies performed over the past century in the field of range management document <br />that cattle graze the vegetation found on a particular site not in proportion to the abundance of <br />a particular plant found on that site, but in accordance with their preference for those plant <br />species. Hubbard and Hansen (1976) reported from field grazing trials conducted in the <br />Mountain Shrub and Pinyon -Juniper vegetation types of the Piceance Basin in Northwest <br />Colorado, that cattle diets consisted of approximately 94 percent grasses in the Mountain <br />