RANCH ROUNDUP

Wyoming, N.M. Ranches Showcase New Management Style

By Headwaters News, 4-02-07

Despite all of the economic and cultural changes in the West, ranching still very much defines how we live. But in many cases, ranching isn’t what it once was. For example, in Wyoming, the state bought a 6,439-acre ranch and is preparing management plans, and in New Mexico, a family has sought the help of a land trust in managing its land with conservation in mind.

Wyoming bought the Duncan Ranch last year for $5.9 million after noticing its natural resources. Recently, reports the Casper Star-Tribune, the Office of State Lands and Investments offered up a draft management plan for the ranch. The plan aims to balance agriculture, wildlife and recreation. It is also designed to make money for the state, with profits being directed into a fund to benefit state schools.

In New Mexico, the Gonzales family is working to restore their 56-acre piece of land. In the last couple of decades, invasive tamarisk and Russian olive trees have pushed out cottonwoods, native willow, screw-bean mesquites and sacaton grass. Their land is tucked up next to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge and the Rio Grande.

But the family couldn’t do the work on its own, and one member sought the help of the Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. Some family members were hesitant at first, but with some convincing, opened to the idea. It was the father’s memory that may have convinced them all, previously requesting that the family keep possession of the land, and that the land remain pristine.

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