Animal Development If We All Stopped Eating Beef, What Would Happen to the Land? The indictment of cattle as environmental polluters is correct with respect to factory meat farms, but completely mistaken as to cattle raised the old fashioned way – on grasslands, grazing as in nature. NOTE: This article initially was published to Popular Science (PopSci.com) on October 31, 2017 Does #NoRedOctober make
"Invasion Biology" Arizona's Mexican Wolf Restoration Project See what Arizona Game and Fish and its federal, tribal and private partners are doing to recover the endangered Mexican wolf.
Ancient Spearpoints Discovery of Ancient Spearpoints in Texas Has Some Archaeologists Questioning the History of Early Americas It seems as if every month brings fresh archaeological evidence to push back the dates of human arrival in North America. NOTE: this article was originally published to Gizmodo.com on October 24, 2018. It was written byGeorge Dvorsky. Archaeologists have discovered two previously unknown forms of spearpoint technology at
"Invasion Biology" Shy Elk and Bold Birds Become Partners in the Wilderness Complex relationships between species such as birds and grazers are common, but often unrecognized by over-simplified wildlife management theories. As a result, wildlife managers routinely attack species whose interdependence we do not understand. For example, in Texas, tax policy rewards landowners who attempt to eradicate brown-headed cowbirds, a species that
Soil Understanding Brittleness to Better Understand Your Land Learn the concept of brittleness and how understanding where your region falls on the brittleness scale can affect the management options for your ranch or farm. Understanding Brittleness to Better Read Your Land from Savory Institute on Vimeo.
Bio-Diversity The Elephant Permit in the Room Once again, conservationists harm the species they hope to protect. This time it’s economic. The legal, licensed hunting of African game gives elephants huge economic value to the communities and countries where they are found. Hunters pay big license fees and hire locals to work the hunts. Because of
"Invasion Biology" Wild Burros Providing Water for Wildlife In far-West Texas, a coalition of government agencies, agricultural universities and conservation organizations has decided that wild burros on public lands should be eradicated. The coalition based its decision on the belief that what the burros are doing in the video above harms wildlife – especially Desert Bighon Sheep and Desert
Bio-Diversity Get Paid for Watching the Grass Grow: Carbon Sequestration, Texas-Style Fans of carbon credit transfers should focus on grassland restoration through holistic planned grazing. Unlike many carbon credit boondoggles, planned grazing is not based on fake science. And it works – thereby helping wildlife, habitat, and ranchers. NOTE: this post is taken from Forbes.com. The article was published on December
"Invasion Biology" Mountain Lions of Far-West Texas Much of what we used to ‘know’ about mountain lions turns out to be wrong, starting with the belief they are a threat to livestock or humans. Lions – and all other predators – are necessary to the health of wildlife and habitat. Note: This amazing video was produced by Yeti in
"Invasion Biology" Book Review: ‘Inheritors of the Earth’ by Chris D. Thomas Here is better way of thinking about so-called invasive species. Ask yourself: How many invasive species have ever been eliminated? How much damage have we done to native plants, animals and our finances trying unsuccessfully to eliminate invasive species? What if, instead of “always trying to defend the losers,” we
"Invasion Biology" Wolves' Return to Oregon Brings Conflict and Opportunity Wolves help wildlife and habitat but they also – historically with good cause – terrify many people. Mexican Wolves, the native wolf of far-West Texas, is a small and comparatively harmless relative of the larger northern timber wolves which are the subject of this article. The important distinction between sub-species is lost
our-ranch Happy New Year From Circle Ranch 2015 was the year of the big blizzard. New Year 2015 from Christopher Gill on Vimeo.
Bio-Diversity The Culling of Wild Deer Based on Antler Size Is Inefficient - at Best As it turns out, a central practice of deer ‘management’ – the culling of so-called management deer based on their antler size – is somewhere between worthless and outright damaging to wild deer herd genetics and populations. Wildlife ‘management’ as currently practiced is the worst thing ever to befall wildlife.
Bio-Diversity Plants That Get Tougher and Meaner When Attacked The idea that plants need animals as much as animals need plants is counterintuitive to those trained to think nature consists of disconnected parts which can be independently manipulated. But, holistic thinkers have always said that nature’s individual parts are interdependent. As any gardener knows, pinching back flowers to
Bio-Diversity Environmental Quality Is More Than Just the Climate The United States has done a very good job of reducing carbon emissions and human pollutants from sewage and industrial chemicals. But, simultaneously we have unleashed a devastating new environmental problem that has no smell or taste: pesticides and other farmland and rangeland chemicals. These have been in growing use
"Invasion Biology" This Winter’s Hot Fashion: Parkas Stuffed With Vermont Weeds Long attacked with poisons as a noxious invasive, milkweed turns out to be useful. In addition to its value as an organic insulator in clothes, milkweed is essential to the embattled Monarch butterfly and other wild animals. NOTE: This post initially appeared on WSJ.comm on September 27, 2017 New
Allan Savory A South African Solution to Texas’ Feral Hog Problem This story of a start-up hog farm in South Africa points to how Texas can address its wild pig ‘problem’. Hogs can improve soil by by rooting for food, trampling, eating plants, tilling in seeds with their hooves and leaving behind dung and urine. They do best on rangeland, where
Bio-Diversity Successful Pronghorn Transplants Require Ecosystem Health Pronghorn cannot be restored by themselves. Healthy grasslands need periodic grazing by keystone species like bison or cattle, lots of prey and lots of predators. Removing any of these components will unwind the system. Animals, plants and the soil life biome are interdependent and inseparable. Hurt any piece and you
Animal Development Wild Horses Wait on New Pastures Viewed in hindsight, it turns out the good intentions of horse advocates have led to bad consequences for horses. The slaughter prohibition discourages horse ownership. The wild horse population explosion has caused a backlash in sentiment towards wild horses. And, Mexican slaughter yards are less humane than America’s. NOTE:
Bio-Diversity Ranchers Deploy Donkeys Against Dingoes in Australia In yet another example of species that have the same diet being complementary not competitive, burros and horses (equids) will defend other species such as sheep against predators. If we think outside the box, perhaps the equids’ inbred hostility to coyotes, wolves and lions might make them useful in protecting
"Invasion Biology" Texas Elk and the North American Wildlife Conservation Model For 150-years American conservationists have followed the the North American Wildlife Conservation Model. It has been beneficial for waterfowl and iconic big game species across the continent with the exception of elk in far-West Texas. Here on state-managed lands Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) bighorn sheep managers kill all
"Invasion Biology" The Agriculture Of Hope: Climate Farmers Of North America We can debate whether human impact contributes to climate change, but we cannot deny that human agricultural practices harm range and farm lands. These practices can be changed in ways that will restore the land, its profitability and conceivably, help the climate as well. NOTE: This post initially appeared on
food safety This Tiny Country Feeds the World Humane, low chemical, sustainable intensive agriculture, Dutch style. NOTE: this article initially appeared on NationalGeographic.com . It appeared in the September 2017 edition of the magazine. The Netherlands has become an agricultural giant by showing what the future of farming could look like. The great indoors provides optimal growing conditions
Bighorn These Hungry Goats Learned to Branch Out At Circle Ranch we have also found that goats can be very useful as grazing tools to help maintain habitat for wildlife. NOTE: This article was originally published to NYTimes.com on June 12, 2017. Photo credit: Dave Watts/Minden Pictures No, this is not an illustration from a book
