Land managers were seeking ways to restore degraded rangelands and provide forage for livestock, so they planted crested wheatgrass in large areas of the American West during the 1930s. The grass is native to the steppes of Russia and Siberia, and was established readily in cold and dry conditions, with an ecological-site assessment from the US Department of Agriculture estimating that about 20 million acres of crested wheatgrass have been planted in the western United States. That figure is an estimate of planting and not a measurement of how many acres are still dominated by the grass today, and it also warns that crested wheatgrass can spread into neighbouring native grasslands and compete with local vegetation.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
