W. Platts, and J. Rhodes for providing insightful comments on drafts of this paper, as well as Northwest Fund for the Environment and the Bullitt Foundation for financial support. Interpretive Summary Livestock grazing has damaged approximately 80 % of stream and riparian ecosystems in the western United States. Although these areas compose only 0.5-1.0 % of the overall landscape, a disproportionately large percentage (~70-80%) of all desert, shrub, and grassland plants and animals depend on them. The introduction of livestock into these areas 100-200 years ago caused a disturbance with many ripple effects. Livestock seek out water, succulent forage, and shade in riparian areas, leading to trampling and overgrazing of streambanks, soil erosion, loss of streambank stability, declining water quality, and drier, hotter conditions. These changes have reduced habitat for riparian plant species, cold-water fish, and wildlife, thereby causing many native species to decline in number or go locally extinct. Such modifications can lead to largescale changes in adjacent and downstream ecosystems. Despite these disturbances, some people support continued grazing. These
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Belsky et al. (1999) studied this question.