New website demonstrating the benefits of regenerative grazing includes case study of Santa Ana Pueblo.
WWW.REGENERATIVERANCHING.ORG
The Profiles in Land and Management series features the work of innovative ranchers and land managers who are achieving economic and ecological benefits on working lands.
About the project
Land managers steward the majority of our working lands across the planet. They have an essential role in promoting land health, ecological function and biodiversity. These managers combat erosion, invasive species, water pollution, and climate change. These profiles showcase land managers who are using livestock as a positive tool to achieve their goals – while these goals vary widely, the essential themes remain: innovative land managers thoughtfully harness the impact of grazing livestock as a valuable tool for ecological management to improve soil health, decrease bare ground, and increases water infiltration and retention.
Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico: Planned adaptive livestock grazing and riparian and forest restoration to support wildlife, healthy soil and vegetation communities, and resilient agriculture.
The planned grazing program, with adaptive stocking rates based on rainfall and soil/ vegetation profiles, has decreased bare ground, improved vegetation diversity, and bolstered the productivity of the Pueblo’s rangelands. This approach has also significantly improved cattle health, performance, and conception rates while cutting feed costs for ranchers and improving collaboration between the tribal government and the grazing groups.
Elk Glade Ranch, East Beaver Valley near Colorado Springs, Colorado: Regenerative forest and grassland management to reduce fire danger, support thriving wildlife and livestock, and grow diversified ranch revenue streams.
Elk Glade Ranch showcases a variety of benefits that healthy working lands can generate. From hunting, fishing, and grassfed beef to weddings, agritourism, and the sale of a conservation easement, the Johnsons have found many ways to leverage their commitment to regenerative management to care for the longterm health of their land, family, and community.
Wyoming Oilfield Restoration with BLM & Chevron: When nothing else worked to restore a heavily disturbed arid pipeline corridor & oilfields, 1500 mob-stocked goats removed weeds and established perennial grasslands and sage.
Over 3 years, with 1-2 rounds of grazing each summer, the goat herd successfully moved these sites through a rapid process of plant succession. First, the weeds were eaten by the goats. In the process of removing the weeds, the goats fertilized the soil and irrigated the site with nitrogen-rich urine. Their preference for weeds left any surviving perennial grasses to thrive, and also allowed biennial plants to become established. Deep- rooted perennial grasses became established as the primary plant community on the site…
Grupo La Báscula, Chihuahua, Mexico: Community-based planned adaptive grazing to improve vegetation and soil health, support wildlife, and increase economic success and opportunity.
Ranching in the arid grasslands near Janos is difficult. However, in the Ejido San Pedro a grazing cooperative called the Grupo La Báscula has worked together to find ways to do so in an economically and ecologically regenerative way. […] With the goal of improving forage production and supporting wildlife and vegetation communities, the ranchers in the Grupo La Báscula began grazing their animals as a single, cooperative herd. They used electric fencing to subdivide the land to provide more bison-like grazing impact and typically more than a year of recovery and regrowth time. The positive effects of these changes materialized quickly….
Read more profiles of regenerative ranching operations across the US at www.regenerativeranching.org
Read more about Santa Ana’s grazing management in this article by Laura Paskus:
With an eye to the future, the Pueblo of Santa Ana restores lands, wildlife
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