Before Europeans arrived, the native Americans burned chaparral brush-lands to drive out wildlife in hunting, and to increase accessibility to the land. Now chaparral is often converted to grassland to help control wildfire, increase feed for livestock and wildlife, and increase water yield, as well as to improve accessibility. Reduced sheet erosion is often another benefit.

This article is based on a paper presented at the XIV International Grassland Congress and published in Proceedings of the XIV International Grassland Congress, edited by J. Allan Smith and Virgil W. Hays; copyright 1982 by Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.