Defenders' Experts
- Jeff Aardahl
- Pelayo Alvarez
- Mary Elizabeth Beetham
- Rick Brown
- Frank Casey
- Aimee Delach
- Kimberley Delfino
- Elizabeth Fleming
- M. Scott Johnson
- Kassandra Kelly
- Caroline Kennedy
- Timm Kroeger
- Gina L. LaRocco
- Marcia Lesky
- Noah Matson
- Sara O'Brien
- Pine Roehrs
- Gina Schrader
- Bruce Taylor
- Jeremy Terhune
- See all Experts >>
Grassbanking and Fire Management
Malpai Borderlands Group
Malpai Borderlands Group
Identified as one of the pioneering organizations in the conservation
ranching movement, the Malpai Borderlands Group consists of approximately two
dozen landowners whose ranches span nearly a million acres in southwestern New
Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and northern Mexico. The group was formed in the
early 1990s by ranchers concerned about the long-term effects of state and
federal fire suppression and overgrazing that lead to critical invasions of
brush and woody species into what had formerly been luxuriant grasslands. At a
time when anti-grazing activism had reached a flash point, the Malpai
Borderlands Group founders forged an alliance based on the common appreciation
for the open space buffers that unfragmented ranchlands provide over
ever-encroaching "wildcat" subdivisions. Another unifying concern was that their
own activism should be guided by sound science.
The Bootheel Fire Management Plan
The Bootheel Fire Management Plan
Among the group's initial concrete efforts was the establishment of the
Bootheel Fire Management Plan. Based on five years of scientific research and
lobbying as well as consultation with agencies and private landowners, the plan
identified landowners within the region who were willing to allow (or consider
allowing) lightning-ignited and prescribed wildfires to burn within their
properties as a means to reduce shrub encroachment and rejuvenate grasslands. A
simple, color-coded "fire map" compiled owner names, boundary lines, and contact
numbers. The color coding explained whether fires should be left to burn, be put
out, or if the landowner would like the opportunity to decide. Today, as a
result of this initiative, tens of thousands of acres of grasslands now benefit
from the natural pulses of summer fires.
Grassbanking
Another important community initiative developed by the Malpai Borderlands Group is the "grassbank." With neighboring ranchers experiencing a number of consecutive years of serious drought conditions, Malpai Borderlands Group co-founder Drum Hadley offered grazing allotments on the Gray Ranch as a regional safety valve. These short-term conservation easements permitted neighboring ranchers to move their cattle to the abundant grasslands of the Gray Ranch, while restoring their own pastures from the ill effects of overgrazing. In return for the grazing privileges, grassbank participants enrolled selected lands in permanent conservation easements to protect against subdivision. With an emphasis on protecting unfragmented habitats, the group's grassbank program has allowed tens of thousands of grasslands to be reseeded and rejuvenated by fire, and registered 42,000 acres in conservation easements. It is a model that has been replicated as a regional conservation tool in various communities, but should be carefully studied to optimize grassland restoration rather than to maximize grazing in arid regions.
In this section. . .
Inspiring stories and replicable models of conservation-based agriculture.
The Malpai Borderlands Group consists of approximately two dozen landowners whose ranches span nearly a million acres in New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico.
Threemile Canyon Farms in Oregon's Columbia Basin features undisturbed shrub-steppe habitat critical to a number of imperiled species, including ferruginous hawks, loggerhead shrikes, sage sparrow and Washington ground squirrel.
Partnering with land owners, local agencies, and other groups, Yolo County, California has an ambitious plan to create habitat linkages on public and private lands throughout this largely rural area on the boundaries of urban expansion.
Enchanted Acres, in southeastern Minnesota rotates pastures in order to maintain critical breeding habitat for many at-risk songbird species, such as meadowlarks, bobolinks, dickcissels, and savanna and vesper sparrows.
The Methow Valley Conservancy of northeastern Washington has negotiated more than 30 easements protecting over 3,000 acres of land.
Lava Lake Land and Livestock ranch in south-central Idaho has also adopted a non-lethal approach to controlling predators, which occasionally cause problems with the flocks.
