The emphasis on fencing pastures seems to have come late in the socialist era, and is evident in a 1989 publication produced by the Research Institute for Animal Husbandry called "Natural Pasture Use and Protection: the Current State." At least 3 of the 12 short papers in this proceedings contain the following recommendation: 'To properly use pasture there are two methods: first, pasture must be divided into seasonal use areas and used accordingly; second, [pastures] should be divided into fenced sections.' However, pasture fencing never took hold in Mongolia, and most herders remain opposed to fencing, which, like exclusive tenure over pastures, they perceive limits their flexibility. As one herder once remarked to me, 'Fences don't make grass grow.'
N. Sayre and M. Fernandez-Gimenez, “The Genesis of Range Science, with Implications for Current Development Policies.”