Cattle Ranchers Join Conservationists To Save Endangered Species And Rangelands

[Paul in Idaho]

Here's another encouraging example of cooperation and collaboration to reach shared goals. It's good to hear of people with different perspectives working together instead of the current normal of extreme polarization and stonewalling.

The Fish and Wildlife Service employees gained the trust of local ranchers, says Hoagland, who has since built more ponds and wetlands. “Building that trust is so important, and they were straightforward and really good to work with,” he says. “I’m behind them 100%.”

And spotted frogs were just one of the threatened or recently endangered species to crop up at the new ponds. Other regulars included the sage grouse, which needs a wet meadow for raising its young. (For those who’ve never seen this popular sagebrush dweller, its spiky tailfeathers makes it look somewhat like a turkey that stuck its beak in a light socket.) Besides becoming a regular pit stop for bats, pronghorn elk, sandhill cranes and migrating ducks and geese, the ponds helped replenish the water table — crucial in drought-prone Western land.

"I wanted to create the [wet] meadow habitat because water is so scarce in the West, and water is critical to life," says rancher Chris Black of Owyhee County, who created a series of ponds on his property. "If I can create a meadow habitat, I can create a place for sage grouse to come in, pronghorn to come in, all wildlife to use, plus my cows have a habitat they can use. It's good for everything in the system.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianah...e-endangered-species-rangelands/#69b11aa4220d

 

[BigHornRam]

And here's another example of cooperation.

https://vimeo.com/243153557

 

[Mthuntinfool]

Ranchers are very conservation minded, I'm surprised that they get such a bad rep. Real ranchers that is, not these millionaires/billionaires that buy up huge chunks of land so they can play cowboy once a year.

 

[Irrelevant]

I think it goes both ways on the ranching spectrum. Some of those millionaires that buy ranches don't need to make a living and if so inclined can manage more for wildlife and habitat. While some actual ranchers get caught in a pickle trying to make the mortgage payment and may not always have F&W in their minds.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Here's another encouraging example of cooperation and collaboration to reach shared goals. It's good to hear of people with different perspectives working together instead of the current normal of extreme polarization and stonewalling.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianah...e-endangered-species-rangelands/#69b11aa4220d

This is the model many folks are moving towards and it pays huge dividends. Which is why it's so disheartening to see the current administration ignore efforts like this for the sage grouse/public lands management issue, etc.

These types of efforts have worked well on grayling, grouse, grizzlies and many other conservation issues where the diverse stakeholders have been able to find common ground. We need more of this kind of work, not less.

Great story, Paul. Thanks for posting.