Why you might have to share the trail with cows while hiking on Colorado’s public lands

DENVER — Picture this: You’re hiking in a remote, high alpine area of the national forest in southwest Colorado. You haven’t seen another human in many miles, if at all, and so you’re a little more than startled when you encounter a herd of cows wandering through the recreation area.

Don’t panic. The livestock are supposed to be there — and you are, too.

Recreation and agriculture are two of Colorado’s largest economic drivers, and they often coexist in regions where there are abundant public lands. That’s why outdoors people seeking solace in the state’s wilderness have to share the trails with cattle, sheep, and goats that graze there in the summer equally as much as with other recreators and wildlife.

Grazing is one of several historic uses of public lands, alongside logging and mining, though it may come as a surprise to people who haven’t explored less developed natural areas, said Dana Gardunio of the U. S. Forest Service’s Ouray Ranger District. And the practice dates back longer than you might expect.

The Forest Service began regulating grazing in 1897 when it was a nascent agency. Regulators further codified grazing protocols with the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934.

When ranchers settled in the American West in the 19th and 20th centuries, they embraced a free-for-all approach to grazing that not only depleted natural resources but also caused disputes, known as range wars, among livestock owners. The need for common ground — and the need to maintain fertile grounds — led then-Colorado Rep. Edward Taylor to introduce a bill that designated geographic districts where grazing was permitted.

Today, ranchers lease specific plots for their herds and those allotments exist in public lands overseen by both the U.S Forest Service and the Bureau of Land...