The effects of too many Juniper trees

 While logging in Montana I was pulled off a large project and sent to a very large ranch. This ranch was located in the middle of Montana and the reason why I was there was to reduce the amount of juniper trees that were over taking the land. At first I thought that this was weird but after talking with the owner and the project manager I learned that when these trees are are not maintained and kept within certain areas like the drainages and ravines to help with erosion. They can overtake the land and consume all the water, a large juniper tree can use about 30 gallons of water a day. This means the streams slowly start drying up and livestock rancher along with farmers go through dry seasons a lot more often. To keep this from happening many of the trees that are not located in the ravines and washes are masticated or grinded up. By doing this the land is kept usable for farming and pastures for livestock grow enough grass. The last reason is by limiting the amount of juniper trees the risk of fire is also dropped tremendously around these ranches.