With our Stewardship Team spread out through six different states it can be difficult to see the work that is being completed in person. Reports are important and provide the technical necessities of a project, but getting out with the biologist, on the ranch they are working on and seeing it come to life connects us.
Should trees be planted everywhere? In this blog our Program Manager for the Northern Great Plains, Angela, discusses the past, present and future of trees planted in a grassland ecosystem. When the right trees are planted in the right places, everything is great!
You know the old phrase: Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over. Over the two years that I’ve now been in the San Luis Valley (SLV) of Colorado, I’ve heard a lot of stories that recall that phrase. Stories of family members who no longer speak due to disagreements irrigation strategies, landowners who’ve been shot by trespassers hoping to steal water under cover of night, ranchers on their fifth year of a water court case due to a neighbor dispute. This story, however, is not one of those.
I stop what I’m doing for a moment and look up to watch a pair of circling Red-tailed Hawks. They’re smugly indifferent to my work, but their presence makes it go a little faster all the same. With the Western Meadowlarks, Lark Buntings, and Cassin’s Sparrows as a soundtrack, it’s a simply beautiful day to be outside.
This is a two-day event that includes presentations from Ranching Management on best strategies and practices on economics, grazing management, grazing principles, soil health, and the application of grazing principles. There will be some classroom time, a field component, and a presentation from wildlife biologists about local species that benefit from great ranching practices!
Lots of time for conversations, questions, and talking with Ranching for Profit experts! Click the button below to register today!
Fort Collins Audubon Society hosts Rachel Belouin, Program Manager, Southern Plains, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
“Grasslands, Birds, and Grazing”
Thursday, May 11
Social time with Refreshments 7 p.m.; Announcements 7:20; Presentation, 7:30
Door Prize Drawing (must be present to win)
Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Dr.
***This program will also be accessible online using Zoom***
Enter the following link at 7 p.m.: https//us02web.zoom.us/j/8783050898
Rachel Belouin, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, will explore how compatible uses create habitat and resilience on our Great Plains. Rachel works with private landowners (farmers and ranchers) and other partners to help engage best practices for working lands to ensure grasslands stay in grass and to enhance wildlife habitat, especially for avian species. She also will share how Bird Conservancy of the Rockies approaches this unique partnership between beef and birds.
Rachel has a master’s degree in Natural Resource Stewardship with a concentration in grasslands and ecological restoration from Colorado State University. She is the Stewardship Program Manager, Southern Plains, with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Rachel has experience working and living on a third-generation cattle ranch and enjoys riding her horse, trail running with her son, and a great book. Join us for this informative program on May 11. It is free and the public is welcomed!
The first time meeting a bull I thought there should be much more care taken. We parked the pick-up in the two-lane adjacent to the white mound napping and chewing his cud. He didn’t move or glace our way as we approached. I walked equal to the rancher; if he was going in, I was, too.
Another summer in the Northern Great Plains has come and gone, now fleeting as quickly as it arrived. With it, the many birds who travel thousands of miles to call these grasslands home during the breeding season have begun to make the long journey back to their wintering grounds. For the many ranchers and farmers of eastern Montana, the work is not done.
This one day workshop will explore how good grazing management is key to improving profit in the ranching business. Learn how to improve land and create a profitable business that can stay in the family for generations.
The Ranching For Profit School will help you to find the breakthroughs that will improve the health and productivity of your ranch, the profitability of your business and the quality of your life.
Classroom will discuss economics of grazing management, grazing principles, soil health, and application of the grazing principles.
Pre-registration is required. REGISTER HERE!
Find more information on the Ranching for Profit Flyer (Chadron, NE)
