This chapter will discuss the common practices applied to all grazing lands, natural areas, and unpaved surfaces. It will also include disturbed areas that do not succinctly fit into any land type, like abandoned cropland, as the treatment will closely resemble that of degraded grazing lands. Natural areas include lands reserved for wildlife and associated agricultural lands that are difficult to farm or graze, such as pivot corners and on-farm transportation corridors.
For simplicity’s sake, this section will discuss wind erosion control on grazing lands as a collective that includes rangeland, pastureland, woodlands, forestland, and grassland. Where treatments differ depending on the land type, that clarification will be made. Rangeland is considered grazed dryland consisting of native and/or naturalized vegetation that is only rarely renovated or otherwise altered. Pastureland includes grazed land that may or may not be irrigated, is regularly renovated or seeded in a cyclical pattern, and may include native vegetation but also could be entirely composed of introduced forages. Woodlands are generally open-canopied lands that dominated with trees and shrubs. Forestland includes a denser component of tall trees whose makeup is primarily evergreens. Grasslands are a sub-component of rangeland and pastureland where the soils, climate and position on the landscape are especially suited to grasses.
The set of practices that show a positive effect for wind erosion on the land uses above, as assessed in the Conservation Practice Physical Effects (CCPE) database, are listed below with their corresponding CPPE value.
Figure 7-1. Conservation practices that are recognized to address wind erosion on rangeland.