 While traveling across Wyoming, many of us think of sagebrush as the dominant plant. There are also many other plant species like the grasses. Many of these grasses are non-native, meaning they were introduced to Wyoming and North America. When we hear the word introduced associated with plants, we often think about weeds. As one might expect, many of Wyoming's weeds are introduced or not native to Wyoming. There are however many non-native plants that are not necessarily a problem and do not receive a term such as invasive, witty, or noxious. Cool season grasses such as smooth brome, orchard grass, and crusted wheat grass are just a few exotic species that occupy many range and pasture lands of Wyoming. These species, as you might expect, grow during the early summer and late spring. They provide forage to livestock and wildlife throughout this time period. Livestock and hay producers in Wyoming benefit from many introduced cool season grasses. It should be noted, however, that some of these species have escaped cultivation and have now replaced many native cool season grasses in rangeland systems. This replacement may cause potential problems with certain ecosystem functions. So the next time you're out exploring the nature of Wyoming, keep an eye out for the grass species that we have talked about today in this episode. From the University of Wyoming Extension, I'm Brian Sebade.