BUNCHGRASS AND BEEF: BUNCHGRASS ECOSYSTEMS AND THE EARLY CATTLE INDUSTRY IN THE THOMPSON OKANAGAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SCOPE AND NATURE OF THE STUDY

CLIMATIC OVERVIEW

BUNCHGRASS SPECIES

Bluebunch Wheat Grass (Agropyron spicatum)
"Rough Fescue (Festuca scabrella)
Needle-and-thread Grass (Stipa comata)
Giant Wild Rye (Elymus cinereus)
Idaho Fescue (Festuca idahoensis)

BUNCHGRASS GROWTH CURVE

FACTORS EFFECTING THE GROWTH OF BUNCHGRASS

Grazing
Snow Cover
Soils
Fire

DETERMINING THE EXTENT OF THE BUNCHGRASS RANGES

THE INTER-RELATIONSHIP OF MAN AND THE BUNCHGRASS RANGES

FROM PRE-HISTORIC TO COLONIAL TIMES (1858)
DURING COLONIAL TIMES (1858 TO 1871)
THE OPEN RANGE ERA (1871 - 1885)
THE RAILWAYS AND THE COMING OF SETTLERS - 1886 -1895
THE END OF AN ERA - 1895 - 1905
LAND USE POLICIES GOVERNING THE ACQUISITION OF RANCHLANDS

Colonial Government Land Legislation
Land Regulations Under the Provincial Government