Cattle _can_ be extremely environmentally destructive. I was always angry to see them out grazing on public lands in the Sonoran desert where they trample emer

Cattle _can_ be extremely environmentally destructive. I was always angry to see them out grazing on public lands in the Sonoran desert where they trample emerging small cactus and graze down the nurse plants small saguaro need to get started. They also trash sensitive riparian areas. There was no animal like that there, cattle should not be in that area in my opinion, most especially on public ground. However environments that natively supported animals of that size, plain or grass type areas, no problem, lease it out. Cattle actually do environmental good in these areas helping to keep brush down and building grasslands. Unfortunately this isn't most of the public ground in the Western US.