The next step is to draw a picture of the story of the range using what you know about range condition, range trends, plant communities and available forage. You can do this by making a range map. It should show all the essentials used in managing a range – fences, watering places, drainage (streams and so forth), range sites, range condition, number of acres in each pasture, buildings and so on.

After your map is finished, you will see a picture of your range and its problems. Range improvement practices to help solve these problems are given in the following sections.

If you live in a Soil Conservation District, technical help will be available to assist you in developing a range plan. The Soil Conservation Service will have aerial photographs of your ranch area. If requested, the SCS range technician will make an inventory of your range resource and help to develop a complete management plan. An inventory of soil and vegetation of t he range area will be developed on aerial photographs. This information will then be transferred to a ranch-plan map. This ranch plan will include range improvements to be made, areas that could be seeded, brush that could be sprayed and suggestions for water development and salt placement. It would also include suggestions for using various grazing management systems, such as deferred or deferred-rotation grazing, as required for proper management of your rangeland resource.