Moooo........mooooo

click on photos to enlarge

I was working Saturday morning, sitting at my desk, working on spreadsheets when I heard the mooing of cattle.  I looked out the window to see a cattle drive going down the road.

Our offices and the employee RV park and housing are on a dead-end frontage road of Highway 160.  I was surprised to see the cowboys moving the cattle along the road.


Most of the cattle were across the road walking on the grass along the side of the road.  Several of them decided to come into our parking lot and eat some of the grass and plants in the flower beds.

This beige one near the rear of the car was the loudest, he really did not want to move along.  The cowboy circled back a few times trying to get these guys to move.

I'm guessing there were at least 200 cattle, there were many calves in the group.

All of the pictures were taken

 with my iPhone from inside the office.

I didn't think it was a good idea to step outside

into the parking lot.

blm.gov information

Management of rangeland occurs on approximately 8.3 million acres of public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Colorado. Rangeland is a type of land, not a use. Composed of soil, water, air, flora, and fauna, rangeland resources generate many values, uses, and activities. Directly and indirectly, rangelands contribute environmentally, economically, and socially on local to global levels.

Rangelands provide protection to watersheds, quality water supplies, recreation, scenic beauty, and opportunities for enjoyment, relaxation, and solitude. Rangelands provide forage and habitat for many species of organisms, including insects, birds, wildlife, and wild horses by converting energy from the sun into food, fiber, and cover.

Rangeland also provides forage and habitat to domestic livestock. In Colorado, nearly 1500 livestock operators are authorized grazing use on 2500 grazing areas called allotments through an approved grazing permit/lease. Grazing is managed by the terms and conditions specified for each allotment on the permit/lease, e.g., kind and number of livestock, season of use, and amount of use permitted each grazing year.

Permit/leases are generally issued for a term of 10 years. When permits/leases expire, before being renewed they undergo a review for conformance with land use plans and compliance with environmental documentation requirements. An important part of the renewal process involves soliciting comments, interest, concerns, and resource information through public scoping. The public comments along with internal scoping and all other available information is used by BLM Field Managers to prioritize and rank permit/lease renewals for processing on a priority basis.