Chris Gill - Pitchstone Waters (Page 69)

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Chris Gill

Ranching, wildlife management, finance, oil & gas, real estate development and management.

Borderlands Staples: Margaritas y Nachos

Borderlands Staples: Margaritas y Nachos

Reprinted From South Texas: The Newsletter (August-October 2004); By Richard Holland Bennett, with research from David Killam, John Stockley, Alan Dreeben and John Lettunich In this age of media bombardment concerning nutrition, dieting and obesity, one cannot ignore the components of our dietary intake. The dictionary defines a staple as

"Drought Busters" at Circle Ranch

"Drought Busters" at Circle Ranch

These are pictures of areas that were holistic-planned grazed and sub-soiled on contour with a Yeomans Plow earlier this year. All of our subsoiled areas were first grazed then plowed on contour, using Keyline techniques and a Yeomans Plow. Most treated areas remain full of creosote and tarbush. We don’

Trans-Pecos Mule Deer Population Declines 40 Percent - Mule Deer Hunting Season is Lengthened

Trans-Pecos Mule Deer Population Declines 40 Percent - Mule Deer Hunting Season is Lengthened

Far-West Texas: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has extended the mule deer season through the last Sunday in January for those properties operating under Managed Land Deer Permits (MLDP). West Texas mule deer population trends remain alarming. According to the report posted above, the TPWD count “raw data” of

circle-ranch-texas-cattle-feature

Animal Development

Cows and Plows: Transformation Solutions

Commercial Farm Projects, Courses/Workshops, Land, Livestock, Rehabilitation, Soil Conservation, Water Harvesting — by Owen Hablutzel May 3, 2013 Though too often vilified, both ‘cows’ and ‘plows’ have proven to be among our most effective and available tools for restoring healthy ecological and eco-agricultural systems in our landscapes. Bucking the trend

Regarding Holechek and Briske, and Rebuttals by Teague, Gill & Savory

Animal Development

Regarding Holechek and Briske, and Rebuttals by Teague, Gill & Savory

Correcting Misconceptions about the Supposed Discrediting of Savory’s Approach By Seth J. Itzkan Planet-TECH Associates Somerville, MA. 02144 www.planet-tech.com seth.@planet-tech.com June 2011. Updated May, 2013 Abstract This paper investigates the grazing management assessment reports authored by Briske (2008), and Holechek (2000) in light of their

Circle Ranch Savory Institute Research

Savory Institute: Holistic Management Research Portfolio

Allan Savory at Circle Ranch, June 2009 Almost every American wildlife agency, conservation organization, university, wildlife and range scientist is pledged to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. The Model lists its Core Principal #6 as: “6. Science Is the Proper Tool to Discharge Wildlife Policy In his classic

Cows and Quail (Food)

Cows and Quail (Food)

Circle Ranch is in the high-mountain deserts of far-West Texas, where we get about 11 inches of rainfall annually. Generally, our lower country like this desert is very dry, but the ranch has big draws that run throughout it which create unique ecosystems in a very dry area. Much of

Spring Scenes at Circle Ranch

Spring Scenes at Circle Ranch

It is springtime at Circle… Here we are moving 150 head into the sacaton down in the desert where they will spend the next few weeks before leaving the ranch in late June. She is browsing on fourwing saltbush. Wildlifers and stockmen consider this to be one of the desert’

Circle Ranch - Cave - Mouth

Possible Evidence of Human Habitation in Far-West Texas 35,000-Years Ago

It is well-accepted that the earliest human habitation in North America dates to about 12,000-years ago. What if that date is wrong by at least 23,000-years?! Recently, the Debra L. Friedkin site, a Pre-Clovis, Paleoindian and Archaic period site located in the alluvial floodplain of Buttermilk Creek in

Circle Ranch - Cows and Elk

Big Bend Ranch State Park

Cows and Elk

How Cows and Elk Improve Wildlife Habitat Elk the Animal: The elk (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest deer in the world; they are twice as big as mule deer. They are ruminants with four-chambered stomachs that feed early and late in the day. Elk are extremely adaptable, thriving

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Blocks Private Turkey Reintroductions in Far-West Texas

Animal Development

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Blocks Private Turkey Reintroductions in Far-West Texas

January 17, 2013 Philip Dickerson Via email: phdickers@suddenlinkmail.com Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. 4500 W. Illinois, Ste. 203 Midland, TX 79703 Dear Philip: Thank you for your letter dated January 3, 2012 which arrived by e-mail January 8: Dear Chris, I hope this letter will summarize our conversion

Circle Ranch - Pasture Cropping

Erosion Control

Pasture Cropping: A Regenerative Solution from Down Under

This essay was originally published in Acres magazine. It also appeared onTheSolutionsJournal.com. For more of Courtney White’s writing on conservation and agriculture see: www.awestthatworks.com.> Author: Courtney White Since the late 1990s, Australian farmer Colin Seis has been successfully planting a cereal crop into perennial pasture

Circle Ranch - Holistic Herding

Holistic Herding at Erosion Source

Often I have been told by planned-grazing skeptics that what we do at Circle with cows is only possible because of unique terrain features, expensive fence and water systems not available to others, and even that Circle Ranch gets more rain than next-door-neighbor ranches! Planned grazing is succesful anywhere it

Are Elk Native to Texas? Yes.

Are Elk Native to Texas? Yes.

Are elk native to Texas? The answer to this question is “Yes”, and has implications that extend far beyond scientific curiosity. It has a direct impact on how the elk that currently live in Texas will be managed. by Dr. Richardson B. Gill, Christopher Gill, Reeda Peel, and Javier Vasquez

Circle Ranch - Cows and Bighorn Sheep

Cows And Desert Bighorn Sheep

The desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is one of the four subspecies of desert bighorn sheep that occur in North America. The desert bighorn is named for the American naturalist, Edward William Nelson and is found in the desert Southwest and Northern Mexico. Experts today say that prior to

Circle Ranch - Mule Deer Research

New Mule Deer Research in the Chihuahuan Desert

This post contains a recently-published report on mule deer research in the Chihuahuan Desert. It was conducted by the Borderland Research Institute for Natural Resource Management (BRI). BRI is part of Sul Ross State University in Alpine. West Texas needs BRI, specifically dedicated to our regional wildlife and habitat for

Circle Ranch - Grazing the Impossible

Grazing the Impossible by "Cowboy Bob" Kinford

Since my last post, we changed our grazing plan to include grazing Giant Sacaton, which most people think cattle will not eat. There is more about that here. Other than a problem with the water that had the cattle spread out, searching for water, the cattle have been generally staying

Circle Ranch - Sacaton

Sacaton, Cows and Fire

A characteristic of high-desert Southwestern grasslands are draws filled with Giant Sacaton (Sporoblus wrightii). These majestic grass plants cover millions of acres in far-West Texas and New Mexico. At Circle we have several sacaton draws. They encompass thousands of acres. “Circle Ranch is in Hudspeth County, Texas in the high-desert

We and the Burro

We and the Burro

About a year and a half ago I was contacted by Marjorie Farabee, President of the Burro Protection League. Marjorie hesitantly asked me if I was aware that wild burros were being eradicated down at the Big Bend Ranch State Park: She thought I must support this, like most bighorn

Circle Ranch - Cows and Desert Mule Deer

Chronic Wasting Disease

Cows and Desert Mule Deer

This is the third in a series about how cattle can benefit wildlife and habitat. Our previous two articles addressed quail and pronghorn. Desert mule deer are native to several Western states, and are in decline in New Mexico and West Texas. Notwithstanding vast accumulated knowledge about them, no expert

Circe Ranch - Grazing Giant Sacaton by "Cowboy Bob" Kinford

Grazing Giant Sacaton at Circle Ranch by "Cowboy Bob" Kinford

Normally sacaton grass is burned off and grazed early in the year as cattle “refuse” to eat it when it gets taller. Just out of curiosity, I placed roughly half of the 420 cows into a sacaton draw. The results are pretty dramatic and show that cattle really like this

Circle Ranch - Low-Stress Loose-Herding

Easier and Cheaper Holistic Planned Grazing: Low-Stress Loose-Herding at Circle Ranch Pt.1

A frequent complaint about planned grazing is that it is too costly, and hard to implement. This winter, Circle Ranch is running 450 mother cows and their calves. We are ‘loose herding’ rather than concentrating with electric fences. This method of planned grazing offers a cheaper and easier way of

Cows & Quail

Cows and Quail was a successful presentation on the use of domestic animals to help wildlife and habitat. 39 ranchers managing 530,000 acres attended. Here is a summary of the event: Cows and Quail Program – 2012 from Pitchstone Waters Here is an excellent article on how to use cows

Circle Ranch - Pronghorn Decline

Explaining Pronghorn Decline: The Answer is Hidden in Plain Sight

Pronghorn is an iconic American native species and, the only large game animal in the United States which evolved on this continent. In the days of the vast buffalo herds, pronghorn numbers possibly approached 50 million: they may have outnumbered bison! In those days these animals were found from Saskatchewan

Circle Ranch - Sacaton

Science and Range Scientists

When we bought Circle Ranch in 1999 it had been continuously ranched since about 1881, using domestic livestock like horses, sheep, goats, and cattle. Our intention was not to graze. We had been taught by the range “experts” that if you love your land, you protect it from livestock; if