> The character and distribution of Appalachian balds remained stable from the time the first naturalists explored the region, until forestry regulations no longer permitted annual pasturing of local cattle. How and why a summit develops into a grassy bald is unknown; they represent "an ecological enigma and a conservation dilemma".[4] Weigl and Knowles note that "the presence of both rare, endemic plants and northern relicts requiring open habitat suggests a long evolutionary history" and offer a scenario in which grazing pressure of the giant herbivores of the Pleistocene retained the open tundra habitat as the Wisconsin glaciation retreated far to the north. With the arrival of the paleoindians and the disappearance of the megaherbivores, grazing pressure was maintained by deer and elk, and then by the grazing animals of European settlers.
I do agree that cattle seem unlikely. Maybe "grazing animals of European settlers" points to sheep? Maybe even goats?
Here's an online source:
"The Bald is named after Russell Gregory, an early homesteader in the Cades Cove area. He and other cove residents used the meadow to graze cattle during the spring and summer when cove fields were used for growing crops."
Source - I've been licked by ponies and cattle more times than I can remember at Grayson Highlands VA. I've also camped at a former highland cattle "sale" pasture where ranchers herded their cattle for sale in Western NC. Not really done anymore, cattle is too $$$ to raise there when chilled railroad cars exist, but it was a thing.
Problem: Forest is expected cover, but now you have endangered plant species which have migrated uphill, with global climate change, until there's no uphill left. So restoring forest cover would cause extinctions.