#074, In Practice, Nov/Dec 2000

Iremember the first time I heard the

expression “Life is what happens when

you’re busy planning.” A friend of mine

was trying to make the point that all the

planning in the world won’t keep you from

experiencing unexpected events or situations.

I think she was also trying to explain why

she didn’t feel the need to plan. She was of

the opinion that we’re here to live life, not

plan our way around the human experience.

But I saw that quote in a different way.

Unexpected and expected events,

changes, human development, evolution, and

transitions (life) all do happen while one is

setting a holistic goal or making decisions and

making plans. That’s why we are always

monitoring and reevaluating that holistic

goal, decision, or plan. In this way, we better

adapt, work with, and address the changes

in our lives.

As someone involved in developing an

intentional community, I’ve experienced a lot

of change as the community has developed

and people have come and gone. Within

those experiences I’d like to think that I

haven’t just let life happen, but that I’ve

actively learned from life’s changes (planned

or otherwise) because I’ve been managing

holistically.

In particular, I am aware of how when

something new pops up in my life, I feel I

have a clear focus on how I want my life

to be that helps me stay on the path I have

defined rather than react to the transition.

My holistic goal and testing my decisions

toward it has very much influenced how

I’ve worked with other community

members. The process has really helped

me to slow down decisions and get more

information rather than just react to events

and behaviors.

For example, I am the person who has

been in the community the longest and has

put in the most time and money. It is

incredibly easy to become invested in having

a project done the way it was done in the

past or the way it was decided by a group of

people who no longer live here. But part of

my quality of life statement mentions an

environment where creativity is nurtured and

there are intimate, meaningful relationships.

Maintaining a thoughtless allegiance to an old

way of doing business just doesn’t cut it. I

know I need to keep an open mind and

encourage participation if I want to produce

that quality of life, and that has made all the

difference in all sorts of discussions, even

helping someone come to the hard, but right,

decision of leaving.

I know the reason I have reacted to

transitions less “effectively” or thoughtfully

in the past is because the feelings that

come up in response to people’s behavior

are uncomfortable. During those times, I

believed that if I could just take action

the feeling would go away. With Holistic

Management, I take more time with my

decisions (or maybe delay action), which

helps me better sort out the feelings. It

helps me act in the way I’ve described

in my forms of production and in my

future resource base. I have a framework

that helps me face the feelings (but not get

mired in them).

Security Blankets

Allan Savory is forthright about the

fact that the Holistic Management™

decision-making process was influenced

by his military background. Routine is

ingrained in soldiers so that in crisis they

automatically behave in a way that will

save their lives (or at least win the battle).

Reacting on instinct may harm the

in t h is I s su e

Holistic Management in

A Mid-Life Transition

Noel McNaughton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Holistic Management: A Love Story

Don Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

At ti t ude Tra n s i ti o n

Kelly Pasztor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LAND & LIVESTOCK—A specialsection of IN PRACTICEGrazing In Nature’s Image, Part I

Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Making Holistic Grazing Planning

Work For You

Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Questions & Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Holistic Management Explorations—

Global Citizenship:

Holistic Thinking

Ellie and Larry Raffety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Savory Center Bulletin Board . . . . . . .16

Readers Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Holistic Management has helped many

families not only survive, but thrive in

times of crisis or transition. John

Flocchini and his family (pictured here

on vacation) is one such family. Don

Green in his article, “Holistic

Management—A Lo ve Story,” on page 4

writes about the Flocchini family and

other families he has worked with and

known. Learn more about how these

people saw change as an opportunity

rather than something to endure.

Change Artistsby Ann Adams

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2000 NUMBER 74

HOLISTICMANAGEMENT IN PRACTIC EP r oviding the link between a healthy environment and a sound economy

continued on page 2

2 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #74

The Allan Savory

Center for Holistic Management

The ALLAN SAVORY CENTER FOR

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT is a 501(c) (3)

non-profit organization. The Center

works to restore the vitality of

communities and the natural resources

on which they depend by advancing the

practice of Holistic Management and

coordinating its development worldwide.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lois Trevino, Chair

Rio de la Vista, Vice Chair

Ann Adams, Secretary

Manuel Casas, Treasurer

Allan Savory

ADVISORY BOARD

Ron Brandes, New York, NY

Sam Brown, Austin, TX

Gretel Ehrlich, Santa Barbara, CA

Doug McDaniel, Lostine, OR

Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, Mexico

Bunker Sands, Dallas, TX

STAFF

Shannon Horst, Executive Director;

Kate Bradshaw, Associate Director;

Allan Savory, Founding Director;

Jody Butterfield, Co-Founder and

Research and Educational Materials

Coordinator ; Kelly Pasztor, Director

of Educational Services; Andy Braman,

Development Director; Ann Adams,

Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and

Membership Support Coordinator ;

Ann Reeves, Office Manager/Bookkeeper

Africa Centre for Holistic Management

Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

tel: (263) (11) 213529; email:

[email protected]

Huggins Matanga, Director;

Roger and Sharon Parry, Managers,

Regional Training Centre; Elias Ncube,

Hwange Project Manager/Training

Coordinator

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT INPRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is publishedsix times a year by The Allan SavoryCenter for Holistic Management, 1010Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102,505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email:[email protected].;website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2000.

Ad definitumfinem

Change Artistscontinued from page 1

individual or his/her comrades.

I have found that when I am in the

middle of an unexpected, emotional, or

unfamiliar transition (read stressful), I am

usually not at my decision-making best,

whether the transition is a happy (new

relationship) or unhappy one (death of a

family member). It’s easy to react out of

instinct or just raw emotion, and I’ve

found that doesn’t always produce the

best results. In fact, it tends to consistently

result in choices that cause more struggle

and difficulty than necessary. That’s where

I think Holistic Management is extremely

valuable.

My sister, who is a psychologist, has

often mentioned to me the importance of a

“transitional object” for children shifting from

one environment to another. To me, the

quintessential example of a transitional object

is the security blanket, such as Linus’ blanket

in Charles Schultz cartoon strip, “Peanuts.”

Linus drags that blanket around no matter

where he goes because it provides him

security in the pumpkin patch late on

Halloween night or when he’s playing

outfield during a baseball game. In fact, he

has almost superhuman powers with it.

In essence, a transitional object offers us

some form of known security as we face the

uncertainty of some transition whether that is

leaving or returning from a trip, going to bed,

or starting a new school year or a new job.

Because nature abhors a vacuum, it helps to

focus on what we know (like a routine) to

keep ourselves from falling into the abyss of

the unfamiliar or the fear of the unknown.

And it is in transitions where our greatest

growth can occur as we open ourselves to

new possibilities within our vulnerability.

G r owth is Optional

Likewise, responding to the present

situation rather than to what we wanted to

happen or thought would happen, provides

a smoother transition than clinging to that

which was but is no more. I have found

that Holistic Management provides me

with a familiar framework so that I can

act effectively in the present situation

rather than rage that “this wasn’t supposed

to happen.”

While most people think of transition as

a synonym for change, it can also mean a

movement, development, or evolution from

one form or style to another. And while

change can be passive (“It just happened”),

transitions tend to be active. People can

choose to actively participate in a change in

their life through acceptance, observation,

and thoughtful action.

For this reason, transitions remind me

of the saying, “Life is change, growth is

optional.” Yet, people can experience

incredible changes in their lives (birth,

death, divorce, marriage, etc.) and essentially

remain unchanged. It is indeed a matter

of choice.

As you read the stories in the following

pages of people who have accepted that

challenge and made that choice, I think you

will see how Holistic Management has helped

them in their journey. I think most of them

know that the journey still continues as they

determine how they will integrate Holistic

Management into their lives.

With Holistic Management I think there

is even more opportunity to learn something

about one’s self or the world around us and

to move on from a given experience with

new understanding. Through using the

material of life’s transitions, we have the

opportunity to craft ourselves through

our decisions and plans.

bout seven years ago when my wife,

Elizabeth, was turning 50, she began

to get the first symptoms of

menopause. It started with hot flashes, but

was soon followed by erratic mood swings,

a feeling of exhaustion, and a loss of interest

in her work as a psychologist. Within a

couple of years she had closed her private

psychotherapy practice, not knowing what

her next career move would be. Little was I

to know that such a “transition” was around

the corner for me.

A Double Whammy

About that time we also moved from

Edmonton to my family’s farm, and then

to Vancouver in a two-year period. Within

six months of moving to Vancouver, I began

to realize things were still not going as I had

hoped. Even though my new work was in

line with my values and life mission, I was

really not interested in it. With Elizabeth’s

agreement, I left the management team,

not knowing quite what I was going to

do next. The following two years were

like an archetypal “trip through the

underworld,” where I struggled to clarify

my next career step.

I had been running a very successful

Holistic Management™ training program in

Canada, but felt like I needed to change it

somehow, and did not know quite what I

wanted it to look like. I had taken training as

a personal/professional coach, so I did quite a

bit of coaching after leaving the company.

Although it was rewarding, and the farm

families and executives I coached reported

significant benefits from it, coaching wasn’t

quite “it.” I enjoy public speaking, so I

thought of a career as a professional speaker,

but couldn’t seem to find a clear focus.

I began to notice that I had symptoms

similar to menopause (loss of energy, loss of

focus, loss of interest in things that used to

excite me, and drop in sex drive), but

without the hot flashes.

I began to ask other men in their late

forties and early fifties how they were

feeling, and found the majority were

experiencing similar symptoms. Some were

having very severe personal crises, with

either their livelihoods, or marriages, or

both threatened.

next, has brought us through with our

marriage stronger than ever.

After several years of experiencing a kind

of psychic paralysis and forced introspection,

we are both now feeling more energy,

optimism, confidence, and interest in the

“outside world.” I am again looking forward

to speaking about Holistic Management

as well as working with families and

organizations to help them manage

holistically. We have also come away with

a sense that we are moving into the next

part of our life journey with a deeper

understanding of who we are, and what

contributions we might make.

I think a properly written (revisited

annually) quality of life statement is like

a guiding light to help the people in an

organization or family through the crises,

tough spots, and difficult passages that come

along from time to time. Four years ago

Elizabeth and I moved to my home farm. It

soon became apparent that it did not satisfy

Elizabeth’s quality of life needs (she felt

lonely and isolated). Even though I felt a

little restless in the middle of our first

winter, I was reluctant to think of leaving.

Moving to the farm had been a lifetime

dream of mine, and having to move away

had the makings of a crisis in our

relationship. However, our holistic goal says

among other things, that we will live in a

setting satisfying to us both, and above all,

we will do whatever is necessary to

maintain a harmonious marriage. With

those commitments in mind, we reached a

consensus (not a compromise) in moving to

Vancouver, which in retrospect was clearly

the right move for both of us.

No one gets through life without struggle.

It is how they handle it that counts. A large

part of the power of a quality of life

statement is the discussion that must take

place in order to get one written. Once

people are clear about that part of the

holistic goal they are better able to

determine how they will produce and

sustain it, whether they are experiencing

hot flashes or not.

Noel McNaughton is a Certified Educator

and can be reached at 604-736-1552 (or toll

free: 877-736-1552) or [email protected]

I learned from my doctor that at around

50, men have a dramatic drop in testosterone

production, which brings about the

symptoms described above. Although it is a

normal life event, a man experiences it as a

crisis if he has never examined his life before,

thought about his values or life purpose, or

learned how to talk about his feelings

(especially his worries and fears) with his

spouse, or at least a good friend. Such a man

is in danger of looking outside himself for

the “magic bullet” that will make him feel

okay again, which leads to such stereotypical

middle-aged male behavior as quitting his

job, getting divorced, dating a younger

woman, or buying a sports car.

Breaking the Spell

Luckily I didn’t succumb to such behavior

because Elizabeth and I had taken the time

together to write our quality of life

statement. Most people see me as a really

good communicator, but I don’t think that is

enough. I think by writing what we wanted

in our lives, and then constantly revisiting

and talking about our values and goals, we

came through this crisis in far better shape

than many others have.

We had worried about how we would

survive financially until we were on the

other side of this “middle passage.” But

talking with each other about our hopes and

fears, and assuring each other of our love

and support as we struggled with what to do

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2000 3

Holistic Management in A Mid-Life Tr a n s i t i o nby Noel McNaughton

Noel McNaughton

A

“Success in life could be defined

as the continued expansion of

happiness and the progressiv e

realization of worthy goals.

Success is the ability to fulfill your

desires with effortless ease . . .

Success also includes good health,

energy and enthusiasm for life,

fulfilling relationships, creativ e

freedom, emotional and

psychological stability, a sense of

well-being, and peace of mind. . . .

True success is therefore the

experience of the miraculous. It

is the unfolding of the divinity

within us.”

—Deepak Chopra

It was a phone call to my home in

Calgary sometime in July 1983 that

forever changed my life. “Hello,” I said.

“Don here.” On the other end of the line, a

British sounding voice said, “I’m Allan Savory,

and I understand you help family-owned

businesses.” I had never heard of Allan

Savory. Before I could answer, he continued,

“Will you come down here to Albuquerque

and do a school on family business

management?”

He explained that he had been talking

with Blake Holtman, a family business client

of mine from Taber, Alberta, Canada. I had

worked with Blake’s family and his

employees, and Blake had told Allan how

successful the experience had been.

Well, I agreed to attend one of Allan’s

schools (a six-day course in Holistic

Management), and the adventure began.

At that time, Allan ran his “schools” like a

drill sergeant and didn’t speak to me for

three or four of those six days. His seminar

style was, to put it mildly, quite different

than mine, and I guessed that we were

probably not compatible.

Allan typically addressed the people part

of Holistic Management on the morning of

the sixth day. We agreed that I would do that

section, and I said to myself, “Then I’ll just

fly back to Calgary and that will be that.”

I’m both a family therapist and

once you are introduced to Holistic

Management. From that increased awareness

comes a greater desire to create the necessary

changes in your life, and the commitment

and knowledge to achieve it. Steve says, “I’m

not aware of anyone who has studied with

the Savory Center, in a serious way, who

does not view their world holistically . . . My

view of every part of my life is profoundly

affected by my understanding of holism.”

Such a shift in perspective is key. A

holistic point of view is the first step in

understanding the need for making decisions

holistically. Once that understanding occurs,

people can make a more conscious choice of

how they behave and better see their long-

and short-term effects on the land and

people around them.

That was true for Steve who had been an

integral part of managing the Jacob Lake Inn

on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the

Rich family business. In the last several years,

he decided to leave the family business and

use his knowledge of holism and Holistic

Management to work on public land projects.

With his partner, Tommie Martin , Steve is

involved in a number of ongoing projects

that affect hundreds of thousands of acres.

His personal transition has influenced not

only the land, but the many people tied to it.

Kelly Sidoryk, of Lloydminister, Alberta

who is both a practitioner and a Certified

Educator, concurs with Steve about the

importance of increased awareness. After

learning about Holistic Management in the

mid 1980’s, she also experienced a shift in

understanding. She realized that she could

leave her corporate position and return to

the family agricultural business, which

through committed collaborative planning

ended up being both exciting and profitable.

Kelly along with husband, Mike, father,

Dennis Wobeser, and mother, Jean, are leaders

organization development consultant (i.e., I

help organizations make the planned changes

they need and want to make), so I facilitated

a short team-building workshop where the

participants could relax and get to know

each other. This was Allan’s first experience

with this type of workshop and, surprisingly

to me, he thoroughly enjoyed himself. That

was my first understanding of Allan’s

willingness to explore new ideas that would

help people implement what he was

attempting to teach.

It also demonstrated to me his willingness

to change himself and his ideas in furthering

his passionate crusade to help people and the

environment to heal. His passion hooked

me. I suspect many more Holistic

Management practitioners either initially got

interested or stayed hooked for the same

reason. Yet, I doubt that either Allan or his

wife, Jody, fully appreciate their impact on

the thousands of people who have been

moved to greater awareness about

themselves, others, and the environment as

a result of the Savory Center’s effort to

support the development and practice of

Holistic Management. In this article, I hope

to make some small attempt at demonstrating

the effect they, and others within the

Holistic Management movement, have had

on people’s lives.

In writing this article, I’ve talked to a

number of holistic thinkers and Holistic

Management practitioners. These people are

my friends and co-conspirators in the Holistic

Management movement because of their

commitment to their own growth and in

helping others become more aware. They

have all experienced profound changes and

undergone transitions because of their

learning and have introduced Holistic

Management to many others.

Increased Awa r e n e s s

There can be no real growth without

increased awareness and commitment to

change. Steve Rich, a Salt Lake City native and

graduate of the Savory Center’s Degree

Program (a precursor to the current Certified

Educator Training Program) has had first-

hand evidence of how awareness increases


Holistic Management—

A Love Storyby Don Green

“We now have more

success with the animals,

the land, and our

profitability. . . I am calmer,

more comfortable, and

feel a spiritual connection

with the land.”

in their community as they continue to

educate others about Holistic Management.

Mike also uses his knowledge of Holistic

Management in his leadership position with

the local exhibition board.

The knowledge and practice of Holistic

Management helped their families through

some critical transitions. Kelly says, “Holistic

Management changed the way we operated

the family business. We became more

inclusive and began to develop goals as a

team. Holistic Management has also had a

positive impact on how Mike and I parent

our kids.” Kelly stresses that perhaps the

greatest ongoing benefit is their relationships

with other Holistic Management practitioners.

A Conspiracy of Collaboration

One of the common themes that kept

emerging in my conversations with these co-

conspirators was the importance of

collaborative planning which is such an

important component of Holistic

Management. Collaborative planning and

sharing personal experiences nurtures the

close relationships that are needed to

stimulate increased awareness, trust, and

creativity. This necessary supportive climate

allows people to face their fears and move

through the awkwardness of personal and

professional change.

Such was the experience of John

Flocchini, managing partner of the Durham

Buffalo Ranch near Gillette, Wyoming, who

said it this way, “The goal setting process

brought our family closer together, and my

relationship with my father and other family

members continues to grow.” John says

Holistic Management was a transformation

for him and the ranch. “We now have more

success with the animals, the land, and our

profitability. . . I am calmer, more

comfortable, and feel a spiritual connection

with the land.” He also says he now looks

more deeply within himself and his

relationships in efforts to improve both.

Collaboration and inclusion were also key

elements in the transition of the Faudree

family of Midland, Texas and their

employees. Harriett Faudree and her late

husband bought the picturesque UU Bar

Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico in the

early 1970s. Their son, Matt , became the

managing partner after his father’s untimely

death. After their first introduction to Holistic

Management, Matt and his wife, Kerry, asked

me to work with their family business.

of the work that began with Holistic

Management.

The Power of Enthusiasm

I could go on about the number of

people who have been profoundly affected

by Holistic Management, like Kim Barmann

of the well-known CS Ranch near Cimarron,

New Mexico who maintains that Holistic

Management probably saved the CS Ranch

and helped the family to grow closer

together. But, some people have questioned

whether it was Holistic Management that

really created those changes or other factors

in those people’s lives. Regardless of

skepticism, by some, as to the causes of these

and other success stories, there is no question

in my mind that the learnings from Holistic

Management were the major impetus for

change in these and many other cases.

Through increased awareness, new

knowledge, commitment to growth,

planning how to do it, taking action,

evaluating progress, and replanning (all

essential components of the Holistic

Management™ model, they were able to

grow in ways they had been unable to do

before learning about Holistic Management.

Intention and knowing what you want

are important first steps in change, but we

need other influences, both tangible and

intangible, to add power to the intentions.

We need leaders. We need compelling whys.

We need a loving, supportive community to

add the passion and the spirit necessary to

go the distance. Emerson was right when

he said, “Nothing great was ever achieved

without enthusiasm.”

Allan was and is a catalyst for many

people in improving their lives and their

communities. In turn, those people have

helped others. And through continued

learning and the practice of Holistic

Management, more people have been

influenced and changed in a vast array of

fields than either Allan or I can imagine.

Thank you, Allan, for the opportunities you

have provided me and all the people I speak

for to realize our “worthy goals.”

Love, Don

Don Green continues to work with

family-owned businesses and other

organizations. He can be contacted in

Denver at Kennedy & Coe, LLC (303-790-

2416) or at his home office (303-400-0625;

e-mail: [email protected]).

Matt involved the whole family, along

with employees, in an ongoing process of

education including Bob Knox, the UU Bar

ranch manager and his wife, Bettye , along

with other spouses of employees. At one of

the sessions, Bettye learned something about

alcoholism and its effect on family members.

Bettye was the eldest child in her family of

origin in which her father was alcoholic, and

in this seminar she learned how the super

responsible role she had played in that

family and in other areas of her life was

suffocating her.

As a result of this new learning, she read

the book, Co-Dependent No More. This book

outlines the progression of co-dependent

behavior, which can end in suicide. When I

talked with her recently she admitted that at

the time of those first meetings, she was,

indeed, contemplating suicide. With Bob’s

support and the new awareness she gained

from these seminars, Bettye committed to

changing her thinking, her behavior, and her

life. She succeeded because she had the tools

to make it happen.

“For the first time in my life,” she says,

“I realized I could do things for myself.”

She was, at the time, a very poorly paid

computer instructor teacher’s aide at the

local school. Determined to increase her

skills, Bettye enrolled at Highlands

University in Las Vegas, about 100 miles

away. While continuing to work at the

school, she took night courses in Las Vegas

and graduated cum laude with a degree in

elementary education. Today, Bettye makes

a large difference in her community because


Don Green

From time to time the question begs

to be answered: “Are we making

progress?” At no time does this

question nag more than when we are in

transition. And at no other time is it more

difficult to tell what the answer is than when

change is everywhere, emotions are running

high, and nothing seems normal any more.

My family, like all families has

experienced transition on a regular basis.

Someday my husband, Robert, and I will

experience the last of our three children

driving off to college, and I’m wise enough

to know that the evolution of our family

won’t stop there, nor will the times of

transition.

A Year of Changes

One year ago, my family spun

into a series of transitions without

significant warning. Our eldest

daughter, Vanessa, decided to try her

wings in the media industry, bought

a car, and moved to Los Angeles,

California. Meanwhile, our second

eldest, Rachel, had all the expenses of

being a senior in high school (prom,

graduation, etc.) In addition, Robert

decided to return to college to add

two teaching endorsements to his

credentials. We hadn’t identified these

new activities in our holistic financial

plan at the beginning of the year, but

here they were. We thought that all of

them moved us towards our holistic

goal so there didn’t seem to be any

problem. Right? Wrong!

While the bills and expenses began to

increase, one of the family’s two salaried

incomes was cut in half. It was time to

replan. In looking at our situation and what

we did and didn’t want, it was clear we didn’t

want (nor did we feel able) to change our

lifestyle at this point. Robert and I wanted

very much to be able to visit Vanessa on the

West Coast and support her when necessary.

We also wanted Rachael’s last year in high

school to be the “ultimate high school

experience.”

More important than anything else, we

didn’t want to slip into debt. Having been

debt-free for the past six years (the result of

Recently while belaboring my concern that

we don’t ever monitor our financial plan

carefully enough and aren’t ever frugal

enough, etc., Robert brought to my attention

all the things we had been able to do in the

past year with restricted income. And we

only incurred $1,000 debt (long since paid

off). I had been so busy looking at what

hadn’t panned out that I hadn’t seen the

“win” in that situation.

Sure, we all had to pitch in, with the kids

making some difficult (and creative) decisions

about how to get what they wanted. But they

are now very responsible financially because

they had the experience as a family of

making those types of financial decisions

together. I believe they have learned

the importance of having that kind of

buffer and habits in place so they

can respond more effectively to

unforeseen events.

I think the biggest transition for me

in all of this was a mindset transition.

Sometimes I can’t see the good in a

situation if I’m focusing on the pennies,

and I forget how important attitude is

for the people managing the pennies.

I believe that my perception of reality

determines my behavior. If I fear not

having enough money, I am not going

to be at my best in considering how to

increase my income or figure out other

ways of acquiring what I want in

ways that won’t affect me negatively.

I know that two things have helped

us to create and maintain the level of

productivity and harmony for our family that

we did throughout extremely trying times.

One is our strong belief in God. The second

is our Holistic Managment Financial Planning.

There will always be transitions in our lives.

Our attitude about them and the planning we

have already done will be the deciding factor

as to whether we leave that experience with

a sense of having worked together well or

feeling acted upon. Having done it both

ways, I know which I prefer to feel.

Kelly Pasztor is the Savory Center’s

Director of Educational Services.

She can be reached at 505/842-5252 or

[email protected].

being introduced to Holistic Management™

Financial Planning seven years ago), we had

only our mortgage and a credit card we pay

off each month.

Initially we spent some effort cutting

our expenses even further, but this was

really a challenge as we already live pretty

frugally. Next we looked at adding additional

income. Prior to our introduction to Holistic

Management, Robert had worked two and

sometimes three jobs as a teacher, so we

began to research this option. There were

several opportunities presented to us, but

one was obviously the best, and the testing

questions (specifically marginal reaction)

helped us to be sure.

While either one of us could have

taken on additional work, we also wanted

to continue our commitment with

homeschooling our youngest child, Ethan.

The choice for Robert to tutor children at

home gave him the flexibility of scheduling,

including taking Ethan with him, as well as

earning more money than he would have at

more traditional teaching.

Priorities and Pennies

It was this type of constant focus on

what we could do, rather than what was not

working, that really made the difference in

our ability to actually thrive during what

some might have seen as a crisis situation.


Attitude Tr a n s i t i o nby Kelly Pasztor

Vanessa, Rachel and Ethan Pasztor, Christmas morning

1999: “The kids made some difficult (and creative)

decisions about how to get what they wanted.”

IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2000 LAND & LIVESTOCK 7

When we asked Jim Howell if he’d be willing to stand in for L a n d

& Live s t o c k editor Sam Bingham for the next six months while Sam

takes a sabbatical in Bulgaria, he was only too willing to take on the

challenge. We think you’ll agree that Jim is up to the task. He wa s

raised in California and Colorado, where his family has ranched

since the late 1800s. He received a degree in Animal Science from

Cal Poly/Pomona, completing his final year as a foreign exchange

student at Lincoln University in New Zealand in 1991. Since then

Jim has worked on a large diversified ranching operation in

western Colorado, managed a pasture-based dairy in east T e xas, and

co-managed (with wife Daniela) the Savory Center’s 34,000-acre High

Lonesome learning site in southwestern New Mexico. Jim and Daniela

n ow live on the family ranch near Montrose, Colorado, where they

run yearlings, a hunting operation, a small-scale sustainable f o r e s t r y

operation, and educational seminars. In the off-season they lead tours

to creatively managed ranches in Africa, Latin America, Australia

and New Zealand.

Grazing In Nature’s

I m a g e —Part 1by Jim Howe l l

s Holistic Management practitioners, we are engaged in the vital

task of developing a “new agriculture”—an agriculture that builds

soil, preserves biodive r s i t y, encourages water to soak in rather

than run off, provides habitat for wildlife of all forms, and at the same

time results in a good economic return. This new agriculture will

necessarily model itself after nature. But what is natural? What is

possible in terms of creating healthy ecosystem processes? How do

we do it?

The answers vary across the brittleness scale. Do they also vary

with latitude and elevation? Is brittleness 6 in the Tropics the same

as brittleness 6 in the world’s cold temperate regions? What about

mild temperate or arctic regions? Where is most of the world’s fo o d

produced, and where does most of the rain fall? Does that say anything

about where we should be focusing our efforts at finding solutions?

No matter where we are in the world or what type of agriculture

we practice, we should strive to define what nature intended our land

to be like. This raises more questions. Here in North America do we

manage toward the landscape the first Europeans found or what the

first Asian immigrants found 12,000 years ago? Or do we just try to

maintain the status quo? The healthiest, most robust, most ecologically

stable conditions probably existed before anatomically modern humans

began to spread out of Africa. We’ll get into that later, but if that is so,

what did those conditions look like, and is it practically feasible to

attempt to simulate it with our modern day management? What wo u l d

that management generally have to look like, from the brittle Tr o p i c s ,

to the semi-brittle temperate grasslands, to the very brittle arid steppes?

Land lying at six on the brittleness scale in Zimbabwe is ve r y

d i fferent from land lying at six in high elevation Colorado or mild

temperate New South Wales. Are the subtleties of manipulating timing

of grazing, stock density, herd effect, etc. also different? This and a series

of fo l l owing articles will attempt to answer some of these questions.

The “All-Natural” Environment—Fantasy or Reality?

When describing how we want our land to be far into the future,

we are taught not to hold back, but to really describe an environment

functioning at its true optimum. With that in mind, we’ll start with an

ove r v i ew of what the world was like before our ancestors began their

expansion out of the African continent. This may help us envision

what’s possible, and maybe even give us some clues to what it may

take on our part (from a practical management point of view) to turn

that possibility into reality.

In most cases, the exact pristine state of a region’s ecology is

anybody’s guess. What is important is to try to create landscapes

where the ecosystem processes—water and mineral cycles, community

dynamics and energy flow—function optimally. This can entail (and in

most, if not all, cases will h a ve to entail) the use of non-native as well

as native plants and herbivores. The closer we can get to how nature

intended that land to be, the more likely it will be that the ecosystem

processes are functioning effe c t i ve l y.

U n fo r t u n a t e l y, there are few if any regions of the world that are still

functioning as nature originally intended, especially in brittle areas, and

thus few of such places from which to learn. My wife, Daniela, and I

LAND L I V E S TO C K& A Special Section ofIN PRACTICE

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 #74

The wildebeest migration on Africa’s Serengeti Plains—about as close

to pristine nature as one can find in the present day, but for a f ew

major exceptions.

A

continued on page 8

were fortunate to see the massive wildebeest migration on the

Serengeti Plains a few years ago, complete with the accompanying

array of zebra, elephant, lions, cheetahs, and a myriad of other grazing

and browsing herbivores of every shape and size. It was about as close

to pristine nature as one can find in the present day, but for a few

major ex c e p t i o n s .

The Serengeti is an island. It’s a pretty big island, but it’s still an

island, surrounded by masses of people barely able to make a living.

Inside the park, dirt tracks clogged by hundreds of safari vehicles detract

from the “pristineness” of it all. Any time huge tracts of land become

fragmented into islands, and when those islands become invaded by

completely foreign activities (or when natural phenomena, like human

hunting, are outlawed), nature’s model on that original tract of land

becomes severely disrupted. The Serengeti is a great place, but it’s not

natural. If it were, the ecosystem processes wouldn’t be suffering to

the degree they are.

What We ’ ve Lost . . .

Up until the middle of the 20th century, Africa probably did host the

last of the world’s intact populations of wild grazers. Allan Savo r y, with

his unique background as a tracker, combined with his great fortune of

being in the right place at the right time, recognized the role played by

large herds of wild grazers, living in symbiosis with their pack hunting

predators, in maintaining the health of ecosystem processes.

As holistic managers, we draw upon Allan’s background and

o b s e r vations in the brittle Tropics of Africa to help guide our

management not only in Africa, but also across the rest of the world

as well. Here in the U.S., we often use the example of the bison of the

pre-European North American Great Plains as another example of

nature’s model in brittle environments. But other than the wildlife of

the African savanna and the bison, most of us don’t really know what

nature intended around the rest of the wo r l d .

To have credibility among those who would argue against the

necessity of running livestock across the world’s steppes, prairies, and

s a vannas (in an attempt to mimic nature), we, as holistic managers,

need to have a good idea of what those animals were. Then we could

at least take a stab at describing how they must have interacted with

their environment.

So let’s go on a tour of the world’s megafauna, specifically its

m e g a fauna that lived (lives) in great migrating herds, or that at least

s o m e h ow played (plays) a major role in cycling carbon. The white

rhino, for example, doesn’t live in massive migrating herds, but it is a

s evere grazer that plays (or used to play) a significant role in conve r t i n g

standing dormant forage into dung and urine, and thus cycling carbon.

The generally accepted definition of megafauna includes animals

weighing at least 100 pounds (45 kg) at maturity. The reason most of us

don’t know what all these animals are (or in most cases were) is because

t h ey don’t teach us that in school, and because very few of us grow up

to become paleontologists.

. . . In North America

When most people think of North America in its pristine state,

images of vast herds of bison on the golden prairie come to mind. A few

h a ve read enough to know that huge numbers of elk existed all ove r

the continent as well. Very few of us realize that neither bison, nor elk

or moose, nor mule or whitetail deer, nor bighorn sheep or mountain

goats, nor caribou and musk ox in Alaska, are truly native to North

America. All of those carbon cyclers are true natives of Europe and Asia.

The original large herbivores of North America included the

pronghorn fa m i l y, the horse fa m i l y, and the camel fa m i l y. Among the

camels, six species inhabited the arid west, as well as five species of

long-legged llama, and a stout-legged llama. Paleontologists still disagree

on the taxonomy of the horses, some proclaiming there were possibly

“dozens” of species of horses, asses, and donkeys. The original pronghorn

family counted eleven species. Only one survives—North America’s sole

surviving true native large herbivore.

The fact that the deer fa m i l y, the bovine fa m i l y, and the order of

elephants (mastodonts and mammoths in North America) aren’t truly

n a t i ve is really a moot point. They began to spread across from Asia at

the beginning of the Pleistocene, about 1.8 million years ago, and their

presence eventually resulted in ecological equilibrium here in America.

In addition to their surviving members, these families also once included

the now extinct genera (plural of genus) of the shrub ox, wo o d l a n d

musk ox, a giant stag moose, mountain deer, fugitive deer, stilt-legged

deer, several species of mastodonts and mammoths, and saiga antelope

and yaks in Alaska. Many species of the surviving genera, including

goats, sheep, and bison, also vanished.

The diversity and the mass of animals must have been staggering

to the first humans that stepped on the scene. These weren’t primitive

hominid scavengers; they were culturally modern humans who had

been living for millennia as highly successful hunters in the ex t r e m e

rigors of Siberia. The camels, horses, and pronghorn they encountered

had never seen a human, let alone complex societies of skilled big-game

hunters, and within a few centuries all but one species of an ex t r e m e l y

gracile pronghorn were extinct. The same fate befell the giant elephants.

The only survivors, other than the pronghorn, were a few remnant

species whose ancestors had co-evo l ved with primitive human hunters

in Eurasia. Their genes remembered how to deal with human hunters,

and they survive to the present day. Altogether, about 67% of the

carbon-cycling genera of North American megafauna went ex t i n c t

within a few centuries of the widespread establishment of culturally

modern humans 11,000 to 12,000 years ago.

. . . In South America

The situation was much the same in South America. Over millions

of years of isolation fo l l owing its detachment from the great southern

hemisphere continent of Gondwanaland and its reattachment to North

America, the world’s most diverse and bizarre collection of megafa u n a

evo l ved in South America. When the two continents became a single

landmass, many of the North American ungulates and their predators,

which had either evo l ved in or migrated to North America, ex p a n d e d

into and throughout Central and South America.

As frequently happens when foreign species enter an environment

in which they didn’t co-evo l ve, the new invaders created havoc among

the native fauna. Of the 50-odd genera of megafauna native to South

America, only three genera of larger grazers survived the inva s i o n .

These were the Toxodonts, Typotheres, and Macrauchenids.

The Toxodonts were rhino-like in form, with three hoofed toes on

each foot. Up until the arrival of modern humans about 12,000 years

ago, they were the most common mammals on the South American

continent. The Typotheres were large herding grazers concentrated on

the Argentine Pampas. The Macrauchenids were large camel-like beasts

8 LAND & LIVESTOCK IN PRACTICE #74

Grazing in Nature’s Imagecontinued from page 7


with a primitive trunk. The invaders from North America radiated into

s even genera of camels, including two (the guanacos and vicunas) that

managed to survive to the present (the guanaco is the wild relative of

the domesticated llamas and alpacas); eight genera of deer, including

four that still survive; three genera and many species of horses (all

extinct); and four genera of Gomphotheres.

The Gomphotheres were primitive elephants that originally evo l ve d

in Africa, then spread throughout the rest of the world. Most of them

were eventually replaced by other members of the elephant fa m i l y. The

mastodonts and mammoths of North America displaced North America’s

Gomphotheres and then moved south, but only made it as far as

Ve n e z u e l a .

The original South American Gomphotheres survived until the

a r r i val of modern human hunters, and ranged from the Andean

highlands to the flat Pampas of Argentina. Overall, about 70% of the

carbon-cycling megafaunal grazers and browsers disappeared.

. . . In Australia

N ow let’s head across the ocean to the other major continent that

split off from Gondwanaland—Australia. Like South America, Australia

was once part of this massive southern continent. Also like South

America, an incredibly unique and highly diverse native fauna evo l ve d

during Australia’s long isolation. But unlike South America, Australia

n ever became connected by a land

bridge to another major continent.

All of its original fauna we r e

t h e r e fore still alive and thriving

when the first humans arrive d ,

b e t ween 40,000 and 60,000 years ago.

The first Australians were the

first anatomically modern humans

ever to enter an environment in

which they hadn’t co-evo l ved with

the resident flora and fauna. They

were the first people to cross the

strait between the Indonesian islands

of Bali and Lombok—a channel of

s e a water so deep that even when

Ice Age glaciers were at their

maximum size (causing the earth’s

oceans to fall way below current

l evels) its bottom was never ex p o s e d .

As a result, the flora and fauna on the Bali side of the strait are totally

distinct from the Lombok side, and it stays that way as one travels east

clear through the rest of Indonesia, Australia, and New Guinea.

H owever, during the Pleistocene, this strait did become very narrow

compared to its width today. Somehow, primitive seafarers either

deliberately or accidentally crossed that line, and a whole new wo r l d

literally opened up to them. Whether or not these first Australians we r e

culturally modern, as the first to arrive in the Americas definitely we r e ,

is not known. (“Culturally modern” essentially means that they could

communicate in complex, symbolic language.)

Tim Flannery, in The Future Eaters, hypothesizes that these first

Australians may actually have been the ones to develop modern symbolic

language. The extraordinary circumstances they found themselves in (no

natural predators and masses of prey with no fear of humans) may have

led to societies more complex than had ever before existed, and along

with advances came symbolic language. That’s the theory anyhow.

E ventually the oceans rose, island-hopping in Indonesia became

much more difficult, and those who found themselves isolated on the

other side of that now wider strait were already a long way to

exhausting their resource base. The original Australians encountered all

of the surviving dozen or so species of larger kangaroos and wa l l a b i e s ,

but these survivors are mere remnants of the original herding and

grazing megafa u n a .

There were at least seven species of marsupial diprotodontids, which

filled the ecological niches occupied by rhinos, hippos, elephants, and

b ovids (cattle, sheep, goats, bison, antelope) on other continents. Some,

such as Diprotodon optatum , were especially prevalent in the drier,

more brittle interior. These herding generalist herbivores measured up

to seven feet at the shoulder.

There were also a whole slew of kangaroos and kangaroo-like beasts,

including two species of giant kangaroos standing up to nine feet tall.

Other genera in the kangaroo family included giant wallabies and the giant

s h o r t - faced kangaroos, one species of which had a single large toe on each

foot, much like a hoof. Keeping them all bunched and constantly mov i n g

were marsupial lions and wo l ve s .

S everal thousand years after the

first signs of human presence, all of

these giant herbivores were gone.

Only one genus of Australia’s

h e r d i n g / g r a z i n g / b r owsing megafauna survived to the present—that

encompassing the kangaroos and wallabies—while the other 93%

went ex t i n c t .

A Shared History

The megafaunal extinctions in the Americas and Australia share

some common characteristics. They all happened upon the arrival of

human hunters who had evo l ved and developed their skills on diffe r e n t

continents, and they happened on a very broad scale over a very short

period of time. In addition to direct hunting, their broad use of fire and

the resulting alteration of the landscape almost certainly played a major

role in the ex t i n c t i o n s .

If the extinctions weren’t precipitated by these first humans, it is an

incredible coincidence. Some argue that climate change was responsible

because the Pleistocene included numerous Ice Ages. But all of these

continued on page 10

A scene from the late Pleistocene of western North America showing mammoths, long-horned bison,

dead horses with extinct raptors feeding on them, and camels.

animals had already survived many complete glacial advances and

retreats in the past and managed to survive. In the Americas, they we n t

extinct when the glaciers retreated, which should instead have coincided

with an expansion of their numbers. In Australia, the extinctions didn’t

coincide with any great climate change at all.

. . . In the Old Wo r l d

The argument for human caused extinctions is strengthened when

we examine what happened in the Old World—Eurasia and Africa. It’s

called the Old World because we ’ ve been there so long. The first

hominid fossils appear in Africa about four million years ago, and about

1.8 million years ago in Eurasia. Humans advanced at an ex c r u c i a t i n g l y

s l ow pace over vast periods of time that are difficult to contemplate.

Populations and cultural advances were held in check by eve r y t h i n g

around them. It truly was a struggle for survival. We gathered and

s c a venged mostly, hunted a little, and were severely hunted upon.

Nothing came easy, but we

were at equilibrium with

our environment, because

we were an integral

component of its evolution.

This was especially true in the

cradle of humanity, Africa. Only two

of the 20 African genera of large herding,

grazing, browsing ungulates went extinct after

the emergence of culturally modern humans

about 50,000 years ago. Eleven other genera became

extinct before the appearance of modern humans, but

those extinctions happened over thousands of ye a r s ,

and were the result of evolutionary displacement

by newly evolving species.

The modern day megafauna of Africa is not a

remnant of past dive r s i t y. It represents nearly the

full spectrum of original large animals. These

animals have always had to deal with people,

from the most primitive to the most modern.

As humans slowly changed over the eons, the

animals had time to adapt to these human

a d vances. Until gunpowder and population

explosions came on the scene, they existed in massive concentrations all

over the continent.

Eurasia has a similar history to Africa. However, Eurasia hasn’t

supported populations of hominids for nearly as long. Homo erectus wa s

the first of our lineage to gain a foothold in Eurasia, and anatomically

modern humans gradually spread throughout the continent after their

emergence in Africa about 500,000 years ago. Before any of these humans

were there, however, 47 genera of herding, grazing megafauna blanketed

the landscapes of Eurasia, including camels and horses, which had

immigrated from North America, and several members of the order of

elephants that originated in Africa. There were also four genera of rhinos,

one hippo, eight genera of deer, two genera of giraffe, and 23 genera of

b ovids (cattle, sheep, goats, and antelope). About half of these genera

went extinct over the course of about 1.8 million years, so there was

no quick extermination as in Australia and the Americas.

The causes of the extinctions were probably many, including

predation by humans, especially within the last 50,000 years. Many

of the genera to become extinct were isolated in the Arctic regions of

Siberia, and humans only arrived there fairly recently when the adve n t

of suitable technology made it possible to survive at high latitudes.

The point is that the extinctions that occurred in Eurasia represent

a situation midway between Africa and the Americas/Australia. Since

culturally modern humans came on the scene 50,000 years ago, about

40 percent of the herding grazers have become extinct. This makes

sense, since human history in Eurasia is not nearly so ancient as in

Africa, but is much older than in the New World and Australia. A great

d i versity of megafauna, including genera that were exterminated in

North America, survived to modern times—less than in Africa, but

many more than in the Americas and Australia.

A final interesting point is that all of our large domestic mammals

but one (the llama) are derived from animals native to Eurasia. In the

Americas and Australia all the potential domesticates were killed off

because they were such easy pickings. In Africa, all the animals had a

genetically coded aversion to humans, and none were ever domesticated.

In Eurasia, again, the intermediate case developed. Many of those

animals eventually domesticated were not so wild that their

domestication was an impossibility (as in Africa), but they were just

wild enough to escape being hunted into oblivion

b e fore we got around to domesticating

them (which has happened ve r y

r e c e n t l y, within the last 8,000 ye a r s ) .

What Nature Intended

Why is it important to know all this?

My contention is that in order to

manage our land in nature’s image,

we have to know what nature

intended for our piece of

land. Some of the plants

h a ve gone extinct, but it

has mainly been the large megafa u n a

that have disappeared. However, the

plants do exist in a dramatically

d i fferent pattern than they once did,

with fire- and rest-tolerant species

dominating many landscapes that

were once a biodiverse, healthy

mosaic of species. That land, and

those remnant plants, which need grazers to thrive, still expect those big

animals to be there, but they expect them to be there in a certain way.

We already generally know what that implies—large herds, short

grazing periods, adequate recovery periods, stock density as high as we

can realistically get it, occasional herd effect. But must the application of

those tools vary from tundra to steppe to prairie to savanna? Are there

more general guidelines or basic principles that we have not emphasized

enough? Can we use that former diversity in these distinct environments

as a model to guide our management as we attempt to create healthily

functioning ecosystem processes in the present day? I think we can, but

more on that next time.

The illustrations appearing in this article are from Q u a r t e r n a r y

Extinctions: A Prehistory Revo l u t i o n, by Paul S. Martin and Richard G.

Klein. Copyright 1984. The Arizona Board of Regents. Reprinted by

permission of the University of Arizona Press.


This herding herbivore (Diprotodon optatum), was

especially prevalent in Australia’s drier, more brittle

interior when humans first arrived. When fully

grown, it measured up to seven feet at the shoulder.

Grazing in Nature’s Imagecontinued from page 9


The Holistic Management™ Aide Memoire for Grazing Planning

is a powerful tool for managing complex landscapes with

l i vestock. Its methodical approach to taking everything into

account lends an invaluable degree of security, confidence, and peace

of mind to the land manager’s job. By “taking everything into account,”

I’m talking about how many days (or weeks, months, or years) plants

need to recover and grow back, how much the yearlings need to be

gaining, where you need to have high quality regrowth by hunting

season, where to stay out of while the deer are

fawning, how to get a big herd from here to

there without creating a wreck, when the in-laws

are visiting, how to work out the irrigation

schedule, how to be in the right place by

shipping time, and on and on.

In using the planning process we can ration

out the grazing in a drought because we know

h ow much forage we have ahead of us. We can

plan the moves to ensure we have choice

r e g r owth in the prime hunting spots during rifle

season. And we can plan to graze slopes late in

the season so the maximum amount of litter

gets laid on them. Those are the types of things

we wouldn’t know and wouldn’t be able to

e ffe c t i vely achieve without the grazing planning.

All these things can be accounted for right on

one simple (yes, it’s simple) planning chart.

H owever, I’ve seen people give up and claim

their situation doesn’t fit the aide memoire.

Sometimes they think their situation is too simple and the planning isn’t

n e c e s s a r y. Other times the excuse is that the situation is too complex ,

and the formulas in the aide result in numbers that have no practical

r e l evance. The aide may not fit your case ex a c t l y, but I’ve found that’s

it’s a whole lot more valuable to adapt the aide to your situation than

to abandon it altogether and revert to seat-of-your-pants management.

Grazing Irrigated and Dryland To g e t h e r

We have a situation on our ranch that the aide doesn’t cove r

s p e c i f i c a l l y. It’s a situation that is very common in the Intermountain

West where irrigation schemes using high mountain snow reserve s

create less brittle mosaics among vast expanses of very brittle

rangeland. Many of us in this country have flood-irrigated slopes that

are ex c l u s i vely used for grazing. These irrigated areas are intertwined

within all the dryland pieces that the water can’t get to. Frequently,

these irrigated and non-irrigated areas form major parts of a whole

ranch, or a whole grazing cell. To manage the two types of country

as distinct grazing cells is often impractical, or even if it is practical

l o g i s t i c a l l y, it’s not the most efficient way to capture the maximum

amount of sunshine.

We have 1200 acres of rugged dryland pasture lying adjacent to

about 300 acres of irrigated slopes. Only about 200 acres actually get the

water, however, due to the nature of the topography. We have enough

water to put on about three inches, three times, over the course of the

grazing season, which lasts 120 days. Those applications can be fa i r l y

precise, and can be timed to fit the need. The result is a ve r y

predictable growth rate on the irrigated ground. We know we can

graze each irrigated paddock three times with about 40-day recove r y

periods in between.

On the dryland, total precipitation averages 14 inches throughout

the year. About half of that comes as snow, which typically

accumulates as “standing frozen moisture” throughout the winter, then

melts into the ground or runs off into creeks

during April. This results in a very reliable spring

green-up in May. However, the other seven inches

is very unpredictable and unreliable, and if none

comes until late July or August, that initial spring

green-up won’t have resulted in much fo r a g e

g r owth. Moreover, any dryland paddock grazed

in June and July won’t have had enough residual

moisture from the spring snowmelt to recove r

from the grazing.

E ven if it rains in July and August, the plants

in those early grazed paddocks won’t fully

r e c over within the current year’s growing season.

T h ey’ll stay green and look nice, and the deer

and elk will love them in the fall, but they wo n ’ t

be ready for another severe grazing before the

cattle go off the place. We consequently only plan

to graze each dryland paddock once during our

120-day season.

The first year we began to use irrigated

ground, which we leased from a neighbor, we decided, for a number

of reasons, to run one herd of 200 yearlings on that piece and another

200 on our own 1200 acres of dryland. It worked, but not as well as it

would have with one single herd of 400, so this year we planned to

manage both places as one cell. Our reasons for managing them as

t wo cells the year before were no longer harnessing us this year.

Adapting the Plan

H owever, this created a bit of a challenge when it came to the

grazing planning. The aide memoire assumes all of the land in the

cell is more or less growing (or not growing) at the same rate. When

g r owing conditions are good, you should move faster, and then slow

d own when things get dry. With our situation, we have two ex t r e m e s —

very good predictable growth on the irrigated land, and nearly no

g r owth on the dryland.

O ver the course of the grazing season, the irrigated land produces

nearly six times the forage volume as the dryland piece—120 ADA

compared to 20 ADA. However, it produces this much growth over the

course of three grazing periods, while the dryland yield comes off in

just one grazing period. When calculating the relative quality ratings

for each paddock, therefore, the irrigated paddocks are six times better

than the dryland paddocks. But, we only take about 40 ADA per

grazing off the irrigated paddocks, so when looked at that wa y, they’re

continued on page 12

Making Holistic Grazing Planning Work For Yo u

by Jim Howell

‘The irrigated land

produces nearly six times

the forage volume as the

dryland piece—120 ADA

compared to 20 ADA.

H owe ver, it produces this

much growth over the

course of three grazing

periods, while the dryland

yield comes off in just

one grazing period.’

only twice as good. How could we fit all this on the grazing

planning chart?

Adapting the Recovery Periods

We did it like this. We said that we essentially had two recove r y

periods—120 days for the dryland, and 40 for the irrigated land. We

wrote these in the “range of

r e c overy period” row, accepting

that in our situation the two

periods don’t reflect a “range;” the

120 days is a set figure. Even if

we get good moisture, we know

we can’t go back to any of the

dryland paddocks without

overgrazing them. And since we

can apply water on the irrigated

paddocks so reliably, we know

we can get full recovery within

40 days.

When we calculated our

a verage grazing periods, we used

both the 120- and 40-day recove r y

periods. We have 13 permanent

paddocks altogether, so that

worked out to 9.2 days and 3.1

days, respective l y. Then when

calculating grazing periods (the

formula is: actual paddock rating,

divided by average paddock rating,

multiplied by the average grazing

period), we used 3.1 days for the

irrigated paddocks and 9.2 for the

dryland paddocks.

Remember that the irrigated

ground is about six times more

p r o d u c t i ve than the dryland, so the

resulting actual grazing period on

the irrigated land works out to

much more than 3 days. On the

dryland it usually works out to

less than 9 days—with the

exception of the two biggest

paddocks. On one of the two

irrigated paddocks, it works out to 14 days, and 6 days on the other.

Once we ’ ve gone through the irrigated paddocks, we then plan

enough time in the dryland paddocks (taking into account all the

management considerations that came up in the earlier planning steps)

to allow the initially-grazed irrigated paddocks to get their full 40 days

of recovery before grazing them again.

Juggling Time and Paddock Size

There are pieces within each irrigated paddock that the water can’t

reach, so they are effe c t i vely dryland pieces. By going back to each

irrigated paddock three times during the season, the plants on those

dryland pieces, unless managed diffe r e n t l y, would be seve r e l y

overgrazed. We handle this situation by fencing them off with

portable electric fence until the last time through. That way they

only get grazed once, and it’s toward the end of the season, after

t h ey ’ ve had time to go through their entire growing cycle. Since we ’ r e

in a 14-inch precipitation zone on the cold temperate steppe, those

plants never get rank and unpalatable with just one season of grow t h ,

so waiting to graze them until late doesn’t decrease their palatability

or feed value significantly.

Having 400 cattle on the

irrigated ground for a total of two

months (three times for 20 days

each time) instead of four months

has greatly increased our ability to

e ffe c t i vely manage it. Grazing

periods are half as long and stock

density is twice as high. We give

about 7 new breaks of grass ove r

the 14-day grazing period in the

big paddock, and 3 breaks in the

smaller paddock. This is done by

m oving a portable electric fe n c e ,

and simply letting the cattle surge

onto the new patch of grass. So,

even though there are only two

permanent paddocks on the

irrigated ground, we effe c t i ve l y

are managing it as 10 paddocks.

This works out to a stock

density of 20 yearlings to the acre

for two days in each of these

mini-paddocks. That’s nothing

compared to what others are

doing, but for our labor and

permanent infrastructure situation,

it’s as good as we can do.

Compared to last year, when

densities were half that for twice

as long, we are getting much more

even forage utilization. As

densities go higher, more plants

tend to get grazed, but on ave r a g e

t h ey get grazed less seve r e l y. This

keeps paddocks more even and

less clumpy, and results in greater

capture of sunlight (and therefo r e

more total forage growth) due to more leaf area left in the residual

paddock mass.

To get back to the point of this article, we made the grazing

planning procedure work for our situation. We didn’t get stuck and

abandon it. We knew from past experience what an invaluable tool it

is, and knew we wouldn’t have a handle on our situation without a

we l l - c o n c e i ved plan.

For all of you who think your situation “doesn’t apply,” I’d

encourage you to see if you can figure out how to make the grazing

planning work for yo u .


Making Holistic Grazing Planning

Work For You continued from page 11

Yearlings in one of the irrigated paddocks several mo ves later.

Yearlings in a dryland paddock in June (early summer).


Calf Removal and Rebreeding

Could anyone out there please advise me on the Wiltbank

principle of 24/48-hour calf removal to encourage a cow to

come on heat more quickly? We are in the process of shifting

from summer/autumn calving to spring and if this would

work it would allow us to rebreed cows in less than three months, and

get the calving interval to less than a year. My information suggests

that calves should be 35 days of age at the time of temporary calf

removal. Apparently the cessation of calf suckling has a hormonal

effect on the cow, encouraging her to cycle. Any help or information

would be gratefully received.

I have had some experience with calf removal to help with

rebreeding. I have used this tool without a control on two

different occasions, so I am not sure of the difference in

rebreed. My cows did not graze peacefully alongside the pen, and it

was a noisy two days with damage to fences. I might add that our

fences were new about 70 years ago.

The calves ranged in age from about 30 to 90 days, and we fed

them all the grass hay they could eat. They did not show any apparent

illness from the stress, and the calving did pick up the following year

corresponding with the calf removal. We had seen similar increases in

calving other years when we penned cows and bulls for vaccination

or branding.

A rule of thumb I use in monitoring the effectiveness of aids in

rebreeding is that about 5 percent of the cows should be bulling each

day. (If 5 percent of the cows are in standing heat every day, the bull

will service them all over one 21-day heat cycle). If not, the breeding

season will be extended and the culling of cows will increase.

We shifted from winter calving (January 20) to spring calving

(April 1) and found it quite challenging to get the cows bred up the

first season with the calves already weaned, and turning the bulls

out the latter part of June. Our bulls lamed up from the hard ground

(our dry season in central coastal California extends from May

through December), and got leaner quicker on a declining feed

value. After three seasons, the mature cows are getting bred up to

our satisfaction, and we are still getting up to speed on getting the

first calvers to rebreed.

The spring calving is a better fit for our family, but I expect that

the cow god did not design mother cows to live 365 days in this small

an area, calving at two, and having a calf every year. I notice our deer,

with a shorter gestation period, have a hard time keeping up with

those demands, and I thank my lucky stars for having a market for

cull cows. When I get a surplus of money I am going to run only

dry cows and no bulls.

—Steve Dorrance, Salinas, California

Calf removal is stressful as heck. Calves bawling, cows

bellowing, something less than symphonic. Bud Williams, the

stockmanship guy, thought the idea was absolutely nuts. Dick

Diven, the nutrition guy, strongly advises that cow condition at time of

calving has far more impact on estrus resumption than anything else.

Questions & Answe r s

Q:

a :

Somewhere I heard that several other less stressful strategies can help,

including:

• Running a “gomer” bull (one that has been surgically altered, but

is still full of hormones) with the cows before bulling (of course you

have to pay for the surgery, etc.);

• Leaving the bulls in an adjoining pasture/paddock for several

weeks before they are put with the cows—assuming you have fences

that are up to the challenge.

We’ve found that a three-strand barbed wire fence, which usually

holds the cows against regular grazing pressure, will work to keep the

bulls in too—if we have temporary electric fence running along side it

offset about a yard (or meter).

Generally, I have come to the conclusion that calf removal is rather

like starting fluid for a recalcitrant engine; it works, but you know that

you really should fix the engine.

—Frank Dawley, Red Bluff, California

I haven’t specifically used calf removal to initiate increased

estrus activity, but have weaned early on two occasions (in

one case the calves were only two to three months old),

which should result in a greater response in cycling activity than just

temporary removal.

On one of these occasions, the cows were in very thin condition,

and the early weaning did nothing to increase our rebreeding.

Removing the calves saved the cows, but didn’t get them rebred.

When these cows originally calved, they were only in thin to

moderate condition, and the forage we expected them to produce on

was about the equivalent of cardboard. The early weaning did allow

them to start recovering their own body condition, which resulted in

them being in better condition the following year.

On the other occasion, the cows had calved in moderate to good

condition, and were still in moderate condition when we weaned.

They had the same forage base as in the other case, but we designed a

supplement program to make up for what the forage lacked. This time

the early weaning did result in a high percentage reconception rate.

They calved later the next year, but we wanted to move our calving

to later in the year anyway. So, as Frank Dawley mentioned, my

experience is that cow condition at calving has more to do with

timely reconception than anything else, especially when the plane

of nutrition is poor (due to drought in our case) during early

lactation. Temporary calf removal will probably only work,

therefore, if the cows themselves are in decent condition at the

time you decide to do it.

—Jim Howell, Montrose, Colorado

a :

QUESTIONS?If you’ve got questions, we’d like to help you find answers.

Send your questions to Jim Howell, 1661 Sonoma Court,

Montrose, CO 81401, 970/249-0353, email: [email protected];

or fax in care of the Savory Center: 505/843-7900.

a :


Editor’s Note: In the spring of 1999, Ellie and

Larry Raf fety participated in a class at

Montana State University taught by Clif f

Montagne and Tim Swanson. Using the

knowledge they gained from this class, and

with the help of Kelly Young, Director of

Curriculum, Instruction and Professional

Development at Livingston School District,

the Raffety’s developed the following

environmental education unit of lessons

that includes components of the Holistic

Management™ model. These lessons have

been field-tested in B.A.Winans third-grade

class at Livingston School in Livingston.

hat is a global citizen? Dictionaries

typically define citizenship in relation

to residence in a town or allegiance

to a governmental body. But we believe that

global citizenship is a much broader term.

Global citizenship is our relationship to

all the facets of life of which we are an

integral part.

Why is becoming a better global citizen

important? Each one of us, whether we realize

it or not, influences the health of this earth

and of humanity by our individual actions.

We are taught or learn by experience how

our individual actions influence things close

to home, but how well do we learn of their

effects on the rest of the world?

We developed the following lessons to help

students become better global citizens, and to

teach them a way of thinking that helps them

understand how their individual actions affect

the rest of the world.

Holistic Thinking

Holistic thinking is a method of organizing

and using information with these characteristics:

1. It includes all known information about and

affected entities of a particular situation

(Whole).

2. It identifies the goals and values of the

situation (Goals).

3. Once a problem within the situation is

identified, solutions are proposed (Tools).

4. The proposed solutions are scrutinized (Test).

5. A selected solution is tried and assessed in

relation to the situation’s goals (Implement).

lesson plan are:

• Model situations and problems as described in

this lesson plan.

• Typical school supplies and presentation tools.

• A notebook for sequential student writing and

references.

The Procedure

(This lesson plan is based on students

working through situations and problems in

groups and follows the Holistic Management™

model.)

Before these lessons can be taught, the

students must have a basic understanding of

global citizenship. Some facets of global

citizenship may already have been introduced

in your classroom. Others can be discussed

more fully in the teaching of the lessons. Some

ideas for accomplishing student definition of

global citizenship are:

• Have students write to the prompt “What is

a good citizen?” Gather the children to discuss

ideas, and write them on the board.

• Have students write to the prompt “What

are all the groups you are a citizen of?” For

example—family, classroom, etc.

• Gather the students together for group

discussion.

• Have students write to the prompt “What

are your responsibilities as a citizen of your

family?”

• Have the students discuss citizenship with

partners.

The first few lessons illustrating holistic

thinking should be modeled by the teacher

with student input and involvement. Present

This process is repeated as necessary both

to determine a solution and to ensure the

solution stays valid over time.

These lessons will draw out of students

their own personal definition of global

citizenship, as well as help them learn the

following:

• The responsibilities required of a global

citizen.

• The importance of respecting all citizens.

• The importance of all parts of our global

health—natural, social and financial.

• The importance of diversity.

• Individual responsibility extends far beyond

our own community.

• There are many right answers.

• The need to risk individual opinion and

action.

• Be skeptical of all answers, including our own.

• Realize things are always changing—what is

good citizenship today may not be so

tomorrow.

The Lesson Plan

It is important when teaching these lessons

to make the exercise an inclusive process,

where all ideas are encouraged and considered.

All students are global citizens, no matter what

their capabilities—it is not a matter of choice.

Because most classrooms are busy places

and teachers already have a designated

curriculum to follow, this series of lessons has

been designed to fit into small, 20- to 30-minute

time slots. The lessons can be easily modeled

by the teacher, and students can be taught in

a short time to work on them independently

in groups.

Our basic premise is that curriculum

teaches students to gather and process material,

to think critically and to become responsible

for their own learning. Holistic thinking fits this

process well.

Teachers are always looking for ways to

teach and reinforce skills, both social and

academic, and these lessons can be modified

to do that. With the following lesson plan,

students learn not only about global citizenship,

but also how to describe a situation and create

a desired outcome.

The only materials necessary for this

Holistic Management Explorations—

Global Citizenship: Holistic Thinkingby Ellie and Larry Raf fety

W

The global citizens of B.A. Winan’s

third-grade class.

holistic thinking as a way for the students

to become better global citizens.

A. Choose a situation.

B. Lead the students through the following

questions:

1. Describe the situation.

This step defines the entire scope of the

situation, the “whole” including natural, social,

and financial wealth. Questions to prompt

thought are (see box):

• Where are you?

• Who are you?

• What do you have?

2. Describe what you want.

This step defines overall “goals” for the

situation. The base question is:

• What do you want to happen in this

situation?

C. Choose a problem within the situation.

D. Have the students propose solutions.

(This step defines “tools.”)

We suggest at least three solutions be

proposed and studied before the students try

people or different parts of the world) with

your group to illustrate global citizenship.

Some example situations would be:

• Camping: Choose a campsite.

• Shopping: Choose a store, choose an item, or

get something without money.

• Traveling: Go somewhere in town, somewhere

in a big city, from one big city to another, or to

a foreign country.

• Gardening: Choose a spot or choose the plants.

One of the most effective ways to teach

these lessons would be to identify two different

situations, then have students solve the same

problem in each situation using the procedure

outlined above. For example, you could

determine that the situation is camping in

Yellowstone National Park. You would then draw

a map on the board illustrating place and time.

When you come to Step 2 of the procedure you

will ask the base question to help the students

describe what they want the results of their

camping trip to be, and the affect they want it to

have on all parts of the situation. Then you can

have them make a decision within that situation,

such as selecting a campsite.

After you’ve completed the rest of the

procedure (Steps E through I), choose a second

situation (such as camping in the State of

Rajasthan in India). Repeat the entire procedure.

Issues of global citizenship come to the

forefront immediately when you have the

students ask questions about the whole. They

begin to realize the differences and similarities

(socially, environmentally, and economically)

within each new setting and how that impacts

the decisions they make.

What Students Learn

In using this curriculum, we found that

the students:

• Had to be thoughtful about defining

themselves, their location, and their resources.

• Had to explore (with instructional help) any

unfamiliar situation.

• Assessed their initial solutions, were able to

admit if they needed changing, and understood

why.

• Made decisions in consideration of things

beyond their personal world.

• Could be made aware of situational changes

within the process. For example, what effect

changing the time of year had on a selection

of a campsite.

Ellie Raf fety is an elementary teacher and

Larry Raf ferty is an architect. They live in

Livingston, Montana and can be reached

at P.O. Box 371, Livingston, MT 59047,

406/222-7208, or raf [email protected].

them. This will encourage students to look at

things in different ways and to realize that

there is often more than one way to solve a

problem. This will also discourage quick, ill-

considered solutions.

E. Ask questions about the proposed solutions.

(This step “tests”.) Base questions:

• Will it work?

• Is it smart?

• Is it safe?

• How might people feel?

• Does it suit the situation goals?

F. Try one solution.

(This step “implements.”)

G. Have students review the solution.

(This step continues to “test.”) Base questions:

• Did it work?

• Was it smart?

• Was it safe?

• How did people feel?

• Did it suit the situation goals?

H. Try another solution.

I. Have students review the process.

J. Discuss with the students the following:

1. It is important to define the whole

situation.

2. Seek common goals for everyone within

the situation.

3. Realize that problems and solutions

always occur within situations.

4. Test your ideas before you try them.

5. Test your ideas after you have started

using them.

K. Distribute reference cards.

After the students have practiced holistic

thinking, give each of them a reference card.

Have them personalize the card. Laminate and

return so they can refer to them when using

holistic thinking.

Using Practice Situations

When doing this exercise you should use a

variety of situations and problems (different


WHERE ARE YOU? (Natural Wealth)

[ ] Define the geography.

[ ] Define the climate.

[ ] Define the water resources.

[ ] Define the soils.

[ ] Define the plant life.

[ ] Define the animals and insects.

WHO ARE YOU? (Social Wealth)

[ ] Define yourself.

[ ] Define the people who have influence

over you.

[ ] Define the organizations you

are part of.

[ ] Define the activities you participate in.

[ ] Define the society you are part of.

[ ] Define your attitude about

the situation.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE? (Financial Wealth)

[ ] Define the money you have.

[ ] Define other sources for money or

assistance.

[ ] Define the work you do.

[ ] Define the equipment or tools

you have.

[ ] Define the experience you have

[ ] Define the special expertise you have.

[ ] Define the education you have.

4 1

Situation:

Try It Where

Who?

What?

Ask

Questions Ideas

3 2

Reference Card

Describing the whole.


U p d a t e —

Holistic Management Handbook

e’re pleased to report that work on a

handbook to replace the out-of-print

Holistic Management Workbook has begun. Our

thanks to The Wray Trust of Houston, Texas, for

a grant of $3,500, which has made this possible.

We have still to raise an additional $10,000 and

would welcome contributions from our readers!

We’ve changed our plans for the content

of this handbook. Where we had previously

planned to create several handbooks, the

more urgent need, based on the feedback

we’ve had from many of you, is for an update

of the Workbook that covers the Holistic

Management™ Financial Planning, Grazing

Planning, Land Planning, and Biological

Monitoring processes. In the future, we

tentatively plan to create a handbook for

those working outside agriculture and

resource management.

We hope to have the manuscript completed for

the new Holistic Management Handbook for

the Land Manager by November 2001, with

began to build as people began to see the

difference they could make, was contagious.

All this was solidified the next day out on the

land, where John Hyde was able to

demonstrate most of Allan’s points in practice.

One of the participants, a staff member of the

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, was so

impressed by the two days that he asked Allan

to give the same presentation at the “Ridgetop

to Ridgetop” Conference (the annual meeting of

all the statewide groups) on November 6-9, 2000

in Eugene, Oregon.

We know that Holistic Management could

make an enormous difference to the success of

Oregon’s leading-edge initiative for restoring the

state’s water catchments. We’ll do our best to

support their efforts.

Australian Confe r e n c e

The Third Annual Australasian Holistic

Management Conference will be held in

Christchurch, New Zealand on April 19-21, 2001.

We will have full details in the next issue of

IN PRACTICE. For more information, contact

Suzie Ward in Australia at 61-2-6721-1105 or

[email protected] or Daniela

Howell for U.S./Canada at 970/249-0353 or

[email protected].

publication (by Island Press) following in mid 2002.

Watersheds or Water Catchments?

In July, Allan Savory presented a one-day

Holistic Management overview in Klamath

Falls, Oregon, sponsored by the Upper

Williamson Watershed Group (UWWG). The

next day, most of the participants joined him

out on the land at the Hyde family’s Yamsi

Ranch near Chiloquin. The UWWG is one of

a number of “watershed councils” created in

the state to develop local, consensus-based

approaches to watershed improvement. Allan

couldn’t have asked for a better audience.

He took issue immediately with the use

of the word watershed, suggesting the group

substitute the words water catchment instead.

What they seek to promote, he said, is the

capture of more water, not the shedding of it.

He held the audience’s attention through a

three-hour illustrated presentation on the water

cycle and how to manage it, during which you

could hear a pin drop. Afterward, the questions

came fast and furious and the excitement that

S a vory Center Bulletin Board

Ihave really enjoyed this whole international

series in IN PRACTICE (Issues #72 and #73).

I have to admit that I am really surprised by

the extent of Holistic Management worldwide.

The Mexican efforts put us all to shame. And

the West African and Asian efforts are efforts

we know nothing about. Thank you for this

whole series. I think it has done a lot to

encourage us all in our efforts—however small

and against whatever odds. I have also received

wonderful messages of support from

practitioners in the U.S. in response to my

letter, which is also very encouraging.

Thanks again and we look forward to the

next IN PRACTICE—I love them!

Judy Richardson

Vryburg, South Africa

Ivery much liked the last IN PRACTICE

(Issue #73). Just the kinds of stories I want

to be sharing all over the place.

Tom Walther

Oakland, California

It’s been often said that old surveyors

gradually lose their links as they turn grey

Ijust received and enjoyed the last issue of

IN PRACTICE (#73). It made me think about

how things are at the Savory Center and how

life has changed for me since returning to the

Peace Corp in Ghana.

I have been here for approximately 1-1/2

years and have a year to go with my contract.

For the first year I realized I viewed everything

related to Holistic Management or the Savory

Center as if I were still there as an “insider.”

Now, my perspective is much more as someone

trying to do a demanding job, keep all other

things going in my life, and stay involved in

promoting, pursuing, and managing holistically.

In other words, I more readily understand

why it’s not as easy as I sometimes thought for

folks to be—or appear to be—fully involved

moment by moment in the active/visible

practice of Holistic Management. The people

around you have so much to do with it. My

admiration continues to increase for the people

who in the routine of their daily personal and

professional lives, just keep muddling along

doing their imperfect best to make their lives

better through Holistic Management.

Arne Vanderburg (Former Director of

Educational Services for the Savory Center)

Accra, Ghana

on top, but I’m still having a few problems

with some numbers, on page eight of your

September/October issue (#73) of IN

PRACTICE, where I’m reading a reference

to “500 square km (1900 square miles).”

I’ve surveyed my way around lots of

mountainous square miles over the years and,

with a few check-calculations, confirmed that

one square mile (640 acres/259 hectacres) would

measure 1 .609 km along each edge, and would

thereby contain some 2 .589 square km. Thus,

your 500 square km would necessarily reduce

to something more like 193 square miles or so,

give or take a few centimeters here and there.

Now, how big really is that Darhat Valley

region of northern Mongolia?John D. Engels

North Bend, Oregon

Editor’s Reply: John, I’m not sure what color

your hair is, but you certainly aren’t losing

your links. Your calculations are correct.

The proper figure is 5,000 square km, not 500.

Holistic Management is still the most

relevant thing we’ve found. But, no

easy answer here. Just lots of work.

Vicky Wares

Baker City, Oregon

Readers F o r u m

W

The Year in Rev i ew- 1999 into 2000

Each year, we share with readers some information and

thoughts about the previous year—our successes and our

challenges—as our annual report. In many ways, last year

was a pivotal year for us and I’d like to share some of the highlights.

Our Successes

Our programs, our relationships with the Certified Educator

network, our opportunities to create new alliances were

inspirational and rewarding.

• A Certified Educator Alliance

There was sound progress in creating a U.S. Alliance of Certified

Educators to work together on marketing and supporting one

another. We also formed an international committee of Certified

Educators to work with the Center on creating standards and

guidelines for improving the quality and continuity of the education

in Holistic Management they provide to the public. Likewise, the

Certified Educator Training Program continues to attract highly

talented individuals who are working with individuals, businesses,

and communities all over the world.

Overseas, we saw steady and exciting growth in Australia,

Mexico, Southern Africa, and even the Philippines and China

(thanks to existing and newly graduated Certified Educators).

• A National Learning Site

As followup to a talk Founder Allan Savory gave to the U.S.

Department of Agriculture in August 1999, we were asked by the

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to create and oversee a “national learning

site” in Holistic Management as part of the USFS’s new nation-wide

initiative around grassroots watershed (water catchment) restoration.

• Triple Bottom Line Audit

We also undertook our first project ever to use Holistic

Management in a “triple bottom line” type of audit for a company

out of Louisiana to identify its social, financial and biological

strengths and weaknesses.

• Village Banking

Finally, despite the political and civil unrest in Zimbabwe, our

projects there have flourished and grown with local backing and

commitment. Our Board of Trustees in Zimbabwe was expanded

to include six additional members from the local community,

including a much-loved chief. We established eight village micro-

enterprise lending banks, which are making small loans to women

for small businesses. The additional income they’ve earned has

enabled them to move closer to achieving their holistic goals—the

women say they can feed their families better and send their

children to school.


f r o m the Center

Our Challenges

In June last year, we could see

that we were going to fall short of

bringing in the income we had

planned to bring in by the end of

the year. There is nothing like

financial shortfalls to force a group

(or a family for that matter) to pull

together emotionally, be honest

about challenges and weaknesses,

and focus on priorities. In Holistic

Management, it means facing reality and cutting expenses early

on in the year if necessary. We began doing just that in June.

Replanning

For the second half of 1999 and on into this year, all staff

worked at half-salary. Those of us who continued working here

made a huge commitment to keep everything moving while we

solved our own shortcomings and created the right mix of

programs and fundraising that would ensure we once again

became a robust organization.

As we worked through the financial planning for 2000 in the

last quarter of 1999, we determined that we had to create/add the

capacity to do an excellent job of fundraising, marketing, and

public relations. These areas have consistently needed improvement

during my tenure here. We simply need to get better at “telling our

story”—which is really the story of our members and, increasingly,

also the Certified Educators who support members in achieving

excellent results from the practice of Holistic Management.

Steady Progress

Coming into 2000, we raised a substantial sum of money

restricted to hiring a development director. We borrowed some

funds from a “patient” backer and made a commitment to produce

a top-notch fundraising program and a consistent marketing and

public relations plan. We now have a full-time Development

Director and an Associate Director, who is also overseeing

marketing and public relations. As these two individuals have

gotten better grounded and more knowledgeable about our

work, we have seen steady progress in both of these areas.

We want each of our members to know that we take seriously

the trust you have placed in us with your commitment and money

to support the work we do. We look forward to the continued

opportunity of serving you through our projects, programs, and

products. As always we invite your comments and suggestions.

Sincerely,

Shannon Horst,

Executive Director

Shannon Horst

#074, In Practice, Nov/Dec 2000

Documents

Transcript of #074, In Practice, Nov/Dec 2000