By MITCH LIES

Capital Press

Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Dan Arp said Dec. 10 that a recently published study critical of grazing on public lands does not represent the university's position.

"That paper does not represent a position taken by Oregon State University any more than any other single manuscript by one author would," Arp said.

Arp said the university supports range science, and, in fact, is in the process of hiring a new range scientist.

"We have been engaged in range science for years," Arp said. "We're still doing that. We plan to keep doing that and finding ways to support the ranchers, and range science, in particular."

A report published Nov. 15 by OSU forestry professor Robert Beschta and a team of scientists in the online publication Environmental Management determined grazing on public lands exacerbates the effects of climate change.

A USDA rangeland scientist and cattlemen have rebuked the findings, saying it focused on isolated examples of poor rangeland management and did not present an accurate picture of the overall effect of grazing on federal lands.

Earlier, John Killefer, head of the university's Animal and Rangeland Sciences Department, said he believes that "livestock grazing can be an important part of a range management program."

Efforts to reach College of Forestry Dean Thomas Maness were unsuccessful.

--Mitch Lies