system. As of 2012 there were 2 heritage rangelands and 6 proposed future heritage rangelands run by Alberta Parks. There are also 32 provincial grazing reserves located throughout Alberta administered as public lands by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. The federal government has administered several "Community Pastures" in Western Canada that were reclaimed lands suffering erosion during the 1930s. In 2012, it was announced that this federal involvement would be phased out over a six-year period. United States Of the land within the United States borders, 36% is considered rangeland. The western side of the United States is 53% rangeland. Around 399 million acres (1,610,000 km2) of rangeland are privately owned. The Bureau of Land Management manages about 167 million acres (676,000 km2) of publicly owned rangeland, with the United States Forest Service managing approximately 95 million acres (380,000 km2) more. Ranchers may lease portions of this public rangeland and pay a fee based on the number and type of livestock and the period for which they are on the land. Historically much of the land in the western United States was used for grazing and much of some states still is. In many of those states, such as Arizona, an open-range law applies which requires a land owner to fence cattle out rather than in; thus cattle are theoretically allowed to roam free. In modern times open-range laws can conflict with urban development as occasional stray cows, bulls, or even herds wander into subdivisions or onto highways. North American rangelands - grasslands Tall Grass Prairie Mixed Grass Prairie Short Grass Prairie Pacific Bunchgrass Annual Grasslands North American rangelands - shrublands Sagebrush Steppe Salt Desert Shrublands Desert Shrublands Elsewhere The different types of rangeland together form about 70% (excluding Antarctica) of the Earth's surface. Australia Australia’s rangelands extend from tropical savannas in the north dominated by summer rainfall, though large areas of desert in central Australia to the southern rangelands dominated by winter rainfall. They cover approximately 80 per cent of the Australian continent and equate broadly with the ‘Outback’. However, rangelands also occur in higher rainfall areas where limitations other than rainfall restrict use to management of the natural landscape. The rangelands are where values and societal benefits are based primarily on natural resources. They are areas which have not been intensively developed for agriculture but extensive livestock production is a major land use, accounting for 55 per cent of