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The Quivira
Coalition Newsletter
March 1999 Vol. 2, No. 3
Good stewardship sometimes means looking at old ideas with fresh
eyes.
Fifteen years ago, the Valle
Vidal unit of the Carson National Forest, located east of Questa
in far northern New Mexico, belonged to the Pennzoil Corporation.
Then, in 1985, Pennzoil offered to trade the large, secluded,
mountainous, and biologically complex property to the U.S. Government
for a substantial tax deduction. The government readily agreed.
Although the land had been heavily grazed and
logged over the years, the acquisition of the Valle Vidal gave
the Forest Service and the ranchers in the area a “clean slate”
to start something new. So they turned to history: they
chose herding.
Joe Torres, the president of the Valle Vidal
Grazing Association, and one its founders, said he came up with
the idea of herding cattle after talking with his grandfather,
who spent a lifetime herding sheep in the area.
Grouping the cattle together and moving them
daily made environmental sense, not only to Joe, but to District
Ranger Leonard Atencio as well. (Leonard is currently the
supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest.) Joe had observed
the effect that rest had on the land and saw the need to give
meadows regular rest from grazing pressure.
Economic Sense
Herding also made economic sense to
Joe and his fellow ranchers. Today the Association has over 800
head of cattle on the Vidal, double what they had 10 years ago.
All 800 head are treated as one herd and moved daily by a full-time
rider employed by the Association. Joe figures the rider costs
an extra $20 per head of cattle per year. “It’s worth it,” he
says. “We see the return every day.”
Joe sees herding as a way of “having control”
over the environmental impacts caused by cattle. “They can’t stay
in the creek bottoms,” he notes, “because the rider won’t let
them.” A lighter touch on the land means better forage for the
cattle, which means fatter calves and healthier profits.
Healthier Ecosystem
It also means a healthier ecosystem.
Environmentalist Ron Gardiner, who lives in Questa and knows the
Valle Vidal intimately as a biologist, concurs with Joe’s observation
that the Vidal has been substantially improved. “Herding is a
beachhead,” he says, “a good way to get restoration started.”
Ron notes that the Vidal is unusually well-suited
for herding. It is a very large allotment, with plenty of grassy
meadows and open spaces, some of which are the result of historical
logging. He has observed a dramatic improvement in plant and wildlife
diversity since herding was initiated. “The riparian areas, however,”
he says, “are coming along more slowly.” In his opinion, they
are grazed too hard during the growing season.
Nevertheless, according to Ron, the contrast
between the environmental conditions of the Valle Vidal and surrounding
allotments, where herding is not practiced, is dramatic. One adjacent
meadow in particular, says Ron, demonstrates 90% utilization of
forage and is in “terrible shape.”
This point is echoed by Forest Service District
Ranger Ron Thibedeau who considers the Valle Vidal grazing program
“exceptionally good and balanced.” Its success has allowed him
to shift valuable money and resources to other parts of his district.
He credits the program’s success to the permittee’s willingness
to “reinvest in the operation,” particularly by spending money
on a herder.
Herding: Positive Benefits
He cites the positive benefits of herding:
it spreads the effect of grazing over a wide area, forces the
cattle out of sensitive areas, creates a natural form of disturbance
so that seeds can be pressed into the soil by the hooves of the
cows, and allows significant stretches of the Vidal to rest.
Mr. Thibedeau observes, however, that the good
condition of the Vidal is not solely the result of grazing activity.
“Thousands of hours of volunteer time has poured into the Vidal
over the years.” This includes pole-planting new trees, fisheries
work, and other forms of environmental restoration.
This work has been coordinated with the grazing
program in a positive manner. “The key is communication,” he says.
He credits the Grazing Association’s flexibility, cooperation,
and shared goals for the continued success of the Vidal experiment
(for that’s what it is really).
Everyone agrees there is room for improvement
on the Vidal. More monitoring is required, as is, perhaps, a more
complete understanding by everyone of the role timing, intensity,
and frequency of cattle grazing plays in ecosystem function. But
as an experiment, and as a role model, the Valle Vidal idea is
an encouraging one.
Joe Torres thinks what they have done could
be accomplished “all over northern New Mexico.” It’s not
really a matter of money, after all. It’s all about values, he
says, and “you can’t put a dollar figure to that.”
Which proves that sometimes the
best ideas are the simplest ones.
Coalition for the Valle
Vidal
P.O. Box 238 • Taos, NM 87571
(505) 758-3874 •
(505) 776-3276
Viva@ValleVidal.org |
