Grazing pressure by sheep and goats greatly reduces the regenerative capacity of the two-needle pinyon, and huge areas of pinyon-juniper woodlands have been extensively cattle-grazed. Range improvement practices to increase forage for wildlife and livestock have removed the trees over large areas. Woodland watersheds also have been mechanically cleared or chemically treated in the past, but future treatments may be limited to specific areas, because the possibility of generally increasing water yield does not appear promising.

Compared to pinyon pines, junipers have deeper root penetration and drought resistance and will dominate regeneration for up to 70 years after severe disturbance at a site. If small junipers and pines survive a less severe disturbance, the site may be naturally reforested after 2-3 decades.