Cows and Quail - Pitchstone Waters (Page 3)

Is Feedlot Beef Bad for the Environment?

Although this debate contains statistical data that may be accurate, it is missing holistic thinking, including the fact that our grasslands are in decline as a result of animal removals. This fact has profound implications for our society. NOTE: post originally appeared on WSJ.com · July 12, 2015 Feedlots play

"Invasion Biology"

Book Review: The Pseudoscience of Invasive Species "Biology"

“Competitive” or cooperative? Bighorn and aoudad sharing range and water at Circle Ranch. No science supports the claim that aoudad harm wild animals and plants. “When native species drop mulch, fix nitrogen, attract new pollinators, or create shade, it’s called beneficial. When an exotic does exactly the same, it’

Allan Savory

The Grasslands: Nice to Visit, Critical to Save

Excellent videos from the Savory Center Project posted to IndieGogGo at: https://goo.gl/fWVzLY Help us save the grasslands, stop climate change, fight desertification, and end world poverty. It’s true. The grasslands may not seem like the world’s hottest eco destination. They’re not as colorful as

"Invasion Biology"

Biodiversity Helps High Desert Grasslands: Circle Ranch Game Cameras, Fall 2015.

Because plants need animals as much as animals need plants, a biodiverse plant community requires a biodiverse animal community. Conventional wildlife “management” and “conservation” theory is based on invasive species biology, which is an ideology not a science. Invasive species biology maintains that most of the animals, including the predators

how Holistic Management is beginning to spread in Chihuahua.

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Happy New Year from Circle Ranch

“Soil is… as it were… a direct caress of God” – Pope Francis, 2015 Carbon Underground Pope Francis Climate Rally DC 1080 Hi Res from The Carbon Underground on Vimeo. “Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals.

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Bison, Cattle, and the Shortgrass Prairie of West Texas and New Mexico

Cattle herds managed under “holistic planned grazing” can replace the animal impact of missing bison herds. As explained below, grazing by large animals is necessary for grassland health. NOTE: article originally appeared in the Hudspeth County Herald on November 6th, 2015 Though the American bison, or buffalo, is now a

Bio-Diversity

Circle Ranch's New Heifers October 2015

This winter we are running 500 heifers at Circle Ranch. Here is the first bunch to arrive Circle Ranch’s New Heifers October 2015 from Christopher Gill on Vimeo.

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Circle Ranch Game Cameras: Using Biodiversity to Restore Desert Grasslands

Many wildlife “managers” try to eliminate most of the species pictured below to increase bighorn, or some other favored species like deer or pronghorn. Their actions harm the animals they intend to help because biodiversity is necessary for healthy wild animals and habitat. Until our practices are based on this

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Consevacion de Pastizales del Desierto Chihuahuense Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands Conservation

Planned grazing is well understood in Mexico

Conservation

What Are The Health Risks Associated with Genetically Modified Foods?

Mounting evidence implicates glyphosate, marketed as Roundup®, – with most of the diseases and conditions blamed on the Western diet: gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Quail managers take note: glyphosate has been shown to have remarkable adverse effects on the gut biota

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Chronic Wasting Disease Found in Lavaca County Deer; Ranch Quarantined

Obvious responses to CWD are blocked by the economic interdependence of universities, agencies, conservation organizations and legislatures with the agricultural and agrochemical giants. Decisions within this coalition of special interests are often based internal politics, turf fights and cronyism. Another block is the crippling dogma of invasive species “biology”, which

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Animal and Plant Biodiversity Restoring Desert Habitats at Circle Ranch

A basic doctrine of wildlife “management” is that nature is under attack by thousands of “invasive” plant and animal species which “compete” with “natives” to “harm ecosystem health.” Analysis of the knowledge supporting this ideology exposes invasive species biology as pseudo-science: biological bigotry, dignified with empirically-hollow buzzwords. Efforts to eradicate

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State Culls 35 Deer From Area Ranch to Test For Chronic Wasting Disease

The dirty little secret of Chronic Wasting Disease is that it was created in a government-funded Colorado wildlife experimental facility: the Front Range Experimental Station in Fort Collins Colorado. While there is collective amnesia about what was being done to these confined animals, there is no doubt this is where

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They Brought Wolves to Yellowstone But Had No Idea This Would Be The Result

Predators including wolves are important to habitat because they influence animal behavior in ways that benefit plants. Predator eradications always harm habitat and the animals the eradications are intended to help. Cattlemen and conservations alike should take note. NOTE: post originally appeared on TheShrug.net on May 19, 2015 After

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A Sharp Spike in Honeybee Deaths Deepens a Worrisome Trend

Yet another example of the damage being done to biodiversity, in this case insects, by the chemicals used in our industrial agriculture. This is germane to wildlife and habitat. NOTE: this article originally appeared on NYTimes.com on May 13th, 2015 A prolonged and mysterious die-off of the nation’s

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Cows Can Save the World

I write to offer a constructive way forward in the tragic cultural genocide unfolding in America’s wonderful western ranching culture that is embedded in the nation’s culture. I do so knowing the risk of trying to help a lion by operating on a back molar in its jaw.

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Desert Grasslands Restoration: Manejo Holistico in Chihuahua - Las Damas Ranch

At Circle Ranch, holistic planned grazing of herds including the one above has been very beneficial to wildlife and habitat. Planned grazing is increasingly used in northern Chihuahua, as described below. NOTE: this post has been re-published with permission of the author and HMI – after originally appearing in HMI’s

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Desert Habitat Restoration: Opposing Assumptions about Wildlife Biodiversity

Pictured below are 10 species of animals photographed in our mountains at Circle Ranch during Spring 2015. Conventional wildlife “management” says six of these species should be removed as they are assumed to “harm” desert bighorn sheep, desert mule deer, pronghorn and their habitat. CLICK HERE FOR 75 PHOTOS: Diablo

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Defending Beef—The Case for Sustainable Meat Production

This is the best and easiest-to-understand book about why sustainable ranching is necessary for a healthy environment. It is a must-read for every landowner, rancher, wildlife manager, conservationist, wild horse advocate, hunter, wildlifer, and consumer. Defending Beef—The Case for Sustainable Meat Production. The Manifesto of an Environmental Lawyer and

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CKI Studies Scaled Quail Decline

This study of blue (scaled) quail decline, conducted by the Caesar Kleberg Institute, finds that brush removal, monocultures of non-native grasses and cattle removal cause blue quail numbers to fall. The prescriptions would seem obvious: graze cattle in ways that help plants, preserve brush, and get lots of weeds growing

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Glyphosate Is Anything But Safe

Under our industrial agricultural methods, virtually all of our major crops are being grown with GMO seeds designed to withstand glyphosate, more commonly known by its trade name Roundup®. Seeds are planted. After they sprout, the fields are poisoned, up to three different times, to kill all weeds. This poison

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Restoring Desert Grasslands. EARTH A New Wild - Episode 2 - Plains

EARTH: A New Wild takes a fresh look at humankind’s relationship to the planet’s wildest places and most fascinating species. Produced by National Geographic Studios in association with Passion Planet, the series is hosted by Dr. M. Sanjayan, leading conservation scientist, who takes viewers on a stunning visual

circle-ranch-texas-grasslands-not-badlands

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Restoring Desert Grasslands or Creating Desert Badlands?

For 60 years, this National Park Service land has been “protected” from cattle, unintentionally accelerating its desertification. Here is a typical Big Wildlife program being pursued at Big Bend National Park to “protect” degrading habitat. (ABOVE PDF can be viewed here -> ) I don’t doubt the sincerity or

Bio-Diversity

Amish Farmers Point the Way for Desert Grasslands Restoration

These lessons, from organic farming, are completely portable to desert grasslands restoration. NOTE: originally published by The Atlantic October 6, 2014 By studying the immune systems of plants, they’ve developed a technique that eliminates the need for chemicals. “In the Second World War,” Samuel Zook began, “my ancestors were

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Cows and Keyline: Restoring Desert Grasslands

This 17-minute video, “Cows and Keyline” discusses the use of cattle and the Yeomans Keyline plow as the quickest, cheapest, and safest way to restore desert grasslands. It also documents a project to repair a gully formed by an old road. Aerial photography provides graphic comparisons of the result of