Editing Channel Country (section)

===Land use===
The primary land use is cattle grazing which has replaced sheep grazing.<ref name="bsc">{{cite web |url=http://www.boulia.qld.gov.au/ |title=Boulia: Capital of the Channel Country |access-date=18 May 2010 |publisher=[[Boulia Shire Council]] }}</ref> It is estimated that in the Queensland section alone there are between half to one million head of cattle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/30_7211.htm |title=Focus on the Channel Country |author=Ben Lynes |access-date=18 May 2010 |date=August 2007 |publisher=The State of Queensland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725153022/http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/30_7211.htm |archive-date=25 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The area's towns and cattle stations are serviced by a mail run that is operated by [[West Wing Aviation]] which delivers goods and passengers as well as mail.<ref name="West Wing">{{cite web |title=West Wing Aviation Mail Runs |url=http://www.westwing.com.au/mail-runs.html |access-date=12 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904003218/http://www.westwing.com.au/mail-runs.html# |archive-date=4 September 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2013, the Queensland Government placed caps on water extraction from the region's river{{which|date=October 2022}} to prevent the introduction of [[Cotton#Cultivation|cotton growing]]. At the same time open-cut mining was banned but coal seam and underground mining have been permitted after changes were made to the [[Wild river|Wild Rivers]] legislation.<ref name="csgum">{{Cite news |url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/coal-seam-gas-underground-mining-get-green-light-in-queensland-western-river-catchments/story-fnihsrf2-1226688521382 |title=Coal seam gas, underground mining get green light in Queensland western river catchments |author=John McCarthy  |access-date=2 June 2014 |date=31 July 2013|newspaper=The Courier-Mail |publisher=News Limited }}</ref>

In 2021, 11 [[coal seam gas]] exploration licenses were granted to [[Origin Energy]] by the state government, covering 250,000 hectares of the region.<ref name="wdo">{{cite news |last1=McCosker |first1=Maddelin |last2=Pengilley  |first2=Victoria |date= |title=What does Origin Energy backing out of gas exploration mean for the Channel Country? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-23/origin-energy-backs-out-gas-exploration-channel-country-fracking/101456466 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |access-date=24 October 2023}}</ref> Origin subsequently announced it is withdrawing from the region with a view to sell its exploration permits to another energy company or forfeit the sites.<ref name="wdo"/>