https://www.cntraveler.com/story/iceland-welcomes-tourists-t...
Same with many random islands explorers came across: they'd leave some livestock so when they came back later they'd have some dense and fresh food ready to harvest.
Didn't work so well in Australia. And probably any of the islands most likely.
Also, much of Iceland is a desert of lava, glass, and black sand; some other parts are covered with ice. Not many plants can survive in such a landscape, and those which do are usually not trees.
“Deforestation is a major issue that is highly prevalent throughout the world. The country of Iceland has been hit especially hard by this catastrophe. A nation that once had forests covering 40 percent of its countryside began to lose its tree cover, when the Vikings arrived in the 9th century. By the early 20th century, however, this tree cover was reduced to just 0.5 percent. To this day, the government of Iceland is working towards reviving the lost forests and restoring the land, in order to work towards a more sustainable future. This problem relates to the course of Sustainability for the Common Good because it covers the environmental issue of deforestation as well as the solutions that are being put into play to make the land more sustainable”
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a4e20c53ee77427cb587cb7...
Ok, that hardly ever happens.
But instead of planting lots of corn and feeding your barn full of cattle with it you can also own that same piece of land and sustainably make grass fed beef. Said beef would keep your soil fertile by trampling and shitting on it.
In addition to this your vet and meds bills will be lower to non existent because you don't get the same disease issues you get in cramped barn quarters.
The BLM also employs snipers and gunmen to intimidate ranchers who don't pay the grazing fees. Some ranchers respond with impromptu militias.
Sometimes things escalate to the point that goverment agents kill protesters. Sometimes law enforcement officers get assassinated.
But mostly, cattle graze as you suggest and the BLM collects grazing fees.
[0] https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/rangelands-an...
This is doubly bad if you're displacing natural grasslands and grassland grazing with this. I.e. plant corn on your previous grasslands and cram the cows into some barn.
This came through HN just recently. Another way to do the same though is to go back to what the big buffalo herds were naturally doing. I.e. let your cows actually "trample and shit on the land" and that's what actually keeps it fertile. Then you harvest the cows for meat while keeping their number stable.
Win - win