Ranching still has a place on our public lands I found a recent photograph that shows three people in cowboy gear – I’m the one pouring coffee from a thermos into beat-up cups. We’d all just gotten down from our horses, and the guys are leaning on a pickup truck marked U.S. Forest Service. Here’s the surprise: We’re all laughing. I’m a rancher, and the picture was taken the day I accompanied two range technicians while they did annual monitoring work on our cattle-grazing permit in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Usually, that’s about as much fun as going to the dentist. I dread the ordeal, mainly because it usually includes a scolding from the federal grass cops about “Things Gone Wrong,” subtitled “Cows Eat Grass.” In recent years the government’s answer to any problem has been “fewer cattle, fewer days on national forest lands.” This can make it hard for a rancher to make a living. That day last summer, as the photo shows, it was sunny and warm, I had a good horse to ride in beautiful country, and the range conservationists were good company. I hadn’t met them before, but we visited easily as we stepped through the hoops of walking, counting, recording. After all, it’s not rocket science, measuring blades of grass. We’d been short of rain in Wyoming, and it was a relief to agree that the grass would be ready for our cattle when they completed their climb to these high ranges. Usually, the day carries tension and finger-pointing, but to my surprise, these guys avoided that approach. They were more interested in the country around us and its history, asking questions about the original boundaries and previous permittees, landmarks and trails....