habitat restoration

A collection of 708 posts

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

Cows and Quail

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

Bighorn

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

Giant Sacaton

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

Archaeology

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

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

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

Cows

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

Bio-Diversity

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

Bio-Diversity

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

Conservation

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

Conservation

Studies of Nomadic Grazers on the Serengeti

While there is a growing body of comparative research between holistic planned grazing vs. conventional grazing of domestic animals like cattle, goats and sheep, there is a relative-lack of information on how nomadic herds interact with intact wild grasslands.  This is logical: almost no wild grasslands are left to study!

Grazing

Results of Planned Grazing on Ranges of Northern Rocky Mountains

Here is an interesting article, with supporting tables, that demonstrates the results of planned grazing on 43 ranches in the Northern Rocky Mountain states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho   Without exception, the managers of these ranches find that their land is improving under planned grazing.  By all physical measurements, including

Grazing

Grazing in Nature's Image

Planned grazing is both simple in concept, and one of the profound environmental insights of the 20th Century.  While the physiological explanation of why it works is pretty simple, applying these principals is a lot harder than understanding them. Nature had these systems worked out a lot better than any

Conservation

Genuine Land Stewardship

Reprinted in its entirety below is an excellent article by our friend, Steve Nelle, entitled Genuine Land Stewardship.  Steve is a range and wildlife scientist who has enjoyed a long and successful career in the National Resources Conservation Service.   Steve Nelle on Genuine Land Stewardship In this article Steve quotes

Bighorn

Texas Bighorn Society Funds Aerial Gunning of "Exotics" - Potentially Including Elk

It is hard to believe that an organization committed to Fair Chase hunting, wide-scale habitat improvement and restoration of large game animal diversity would in any way associate itself with the eradication of elk, an indigenous game species.  But that is the reality of the actions of the Texas Bighorn

"Invasion Biology"

TPWD Habitat Survey at Circle Ranch

In late fall of 2010 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department conducted a habitat survey at Circle Ranch, to see if our many cattle and other species including so called “exotics” were harming habitat through “competition”.  As confirmed by this report, TPWD biologists found the opposite to be true. It turns

Conservation

Roads and Erosion: #3 of 3: Results of Treatments of Substandard Ranch Roads

Most old roadbeds are simply abandoned after they become impassible.  S.O.P. is to move over a vehicle-width, and start a new path.  When that wears out, do it again, and so forth.  Near Santa Fe, there are places where the old Camino Real has thirty-five abandoned beds, side-by-side.

Conservation

Roads and Erosion #2 of 3: Addressing The Destructive Erosion of Substandard Ranch Roads

In the summer of 2007, Circle Ranch together with the Dixon Water Foundation, sponsored a road seminar at Circle Ranch. Attendees came from as far as the Navaho Nation in Arizona.  Bill Zeedyk, noted erosion expert from Albuquerque taught our class.   Above –  he is showing different road-drainage profiles. Here we

Conservation

Roads and Erosion: #1 of 3

Pictured here is a typical gully. It was caused by a road which triggered an upward-moving headset. How can you tell an active gully? Whenever the sides of a gully are vertical, the gully is unstable. These drain pastures and ‘bleed’ moisure out of the water table on both sides.

habitat restoration

Circle Ranch Keyline Contrast Photos: 9/4/10

Regarding our Yeomans Keylining progress, here are the latest photos with my comments:   October 1, 2009.  Last summer was dry.  I chose this spot because we had bare ground and minimal grass respose to several years of rain.  Grass was disappearing within the tarbush community seen beyond the tractor.   September

habitat restoration

Keylining Bare Ground in Lower Desert

This ground is bare except for creosote.

habitat restoration

Planting Cereals in Desert Using Yeomans Plow

The idea of Keyline/Yeomans is to open soil to root growth by causing all water to soak in where it falls.

habitat restoration

Same Area in May Before 2010 Monsoons

This picture shows what winter moisture did for plants between the furrows.

habitat restoration

Our First Treatment With Yeomans Plow: October 2009

The first treatment with our Yeomans Plow.