As most of you know, Gus Hormay passed away in 1999.  What a better way to pay him tribute than in his own words regarding sagebrush control on sites where sage has thickened due to poor grazing practices:

"Sagebrush has invaded millions of acres of grassland types and other types throughout the West.  This resulted from deterioration of the plant cover and soil by improper management of livestock grazing.   The condition of the soil determines whether or not sagebrush can grow and persist on a site.  Sagebrush is a drought enduring species.  It grows on young developing soils and on soils that have been deteriorated through erosion.

Sagebrush remains in the plant composition as the soil develops to maturity until soil conditions become more favorable for the growth of other plants higher on the successional scale.  On a deteriorated grassland site, for example, grasses gradually take over and dominate and sagebrush is eliminated.

When a site within the range of sagebrush is deteriorated, soil conditions favoring the growth of sagebrush are again created and sagebrush re-establishes.

Efforts to control sagebrush by cultural means such as spraying, burning and chaining and discing, are doomed to failure.  Millions of acres have been treated by these means throughout the West.  Reduction in stands have been achieved, but were short lived.  The stands re-established in a relatively few

years because of soil conditions.  Cultural control of sagebrush can hardly be justified on any basis.  The threat of further soil and site degradation is every present with the use of these measures because of removal of plant cover.

Sagebrush will yield to other plants higher on the successional scale only as the soil develops to a higher stage.  This takes hundreds if not thousands of years depending on the degree of soil deterioration.

Sagebrush is here to stay for a long time on most of the sites it now occupies.  It is a valuable component of the plant cover and ecosystem providing livestock, wildlife, recreation, watershed, and other renewable resource values."