#090, In Practice, July/Aug 2003

Much of Holistic Management is bent

on improving and ensuring resources

for the future. The soils, the minerals,

and the water cycle are treated with care to

improve land health indefinitely. But who will

be the next managers? How are they prepared

and nurtured? Will they be able to afford to

continue pursuing the holistic goal that has

been established?

Often expressed in a landowner’s holistic

goal is the desire to develop our enterprise so

that our children will “want to” and be “able to”

continue it. In the best case this connotes giving

something valuable to someone you love. But,

in reverse, it could become passing on your

burden or cross to bear to someone you hope

loves you enough to continue it.

Perhaps a better, more challenging quality

of life statement for a sustainable farm

transition might be: We have a farm for which

any number of people are lining up, able and

eager to move the farm toward its holistic goal.

In doing so, this may well lead to questioning

parts of the holistic goal and future plans in a

new light.

A Question of Economy?

A first question in a farm economy where

farmers have been leaving agriculture in droves

for decades is: Can any farm be made that

attractive? Few investors expecting a return on

investment give agriculture serious

consideration. Occasionally farmers or other

investors have successfully exploited a lucrative

new agricultural niche until big capital buys or

forces them out. Or the few well capitalized

farmers profit temporarily from early adoption

of new technology until buyers who

monopolize most sectors of the farm economy

lower farm commodity prices so as to absorb

these profits themselves.

These are the historical tendencies in all

sectors of our peculiar political economy.

However, full time farmers are especially in

need of a return on investment since that is

often their only potential source of retirement

funds, if they want to keep their farms intact.

What does that leave? Recreational farmers with

money to burn, people willing to split their lives

between town and farm jobs, and the really

hard bitten wannabe farmers, like we were

when we began farming over 20 years ago.

A t t r a c t i ve Incentives

At Northland Sheep Dairy, as Karl and Jane

aged into sixty-somethings, we looked for

partners who would become replacements, not

in our children who were happily settled 3,000

miles away from our New York farm in

California in Silicon Valley-related careers, but

first in recruits to our own summer internship

program. But none of our former interns hav e

gone into farming anywhere. For several years

we sought recruits via formal programs like Land

Link (a program helping farmers transfer farms

to interested parties through sale, rental, lease, or

other options) and Appropriate Technology

Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) listings. The

process netted no serious candidates.

This experience raises the question: how

attractive is our farm to next generation would-

be farmers? Is that the problem? We were

among the first to try Holistic Management in

the Northeast, and the farm has benefited in

various ways from its practice. We were among

the founders of the sheep dairy niche in this

country, and have developed a stable clientele

and a national reputation.

True, net income from our current

production would not provide a middle class

standard of consumerism. But, there is solid

demand for at least twice our current cheese

production, had we the energy to fill it. Also,

with careful financial planning we often come

close to netting 50 percent of gross, a

benchmark we learned to aim for by studying

Amish agriculture.

Savory Center Photo Contest . . . . . . 3

Exploring Long-term Profitablility

Steve Dorrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Investing in a Sustainable Future

Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Beyond Nickel flipping—reed Ranch

Estate Planning

Jim and Judy Reed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LAND & LIVESTOCK—A specialsection of IN PRACTICEThe Whitten Ranch—

Creating More With Less

Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Parasite Poisoning Kills More than Bugs—

Losing biodiversity with Chemicals

Ian Mitchell-Innes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Savory Center Bulletin Board . . . . . . .14

Readying for a Rendezvous . . . . . . . . .16

Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

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

Keeping

a ranch

or farm

sustainable

or working

to keep

agriculture

as a viable

long-term

option

in your

community

can take a lot of creativity. Taylor Hyde

(pictured here with son, Jack) and his

wife, Becky, have decided to develop

Yanix Ranch as a learning site to explore

how more people can work with their

communities to produce healthy land,

healthy food and a way for urban

populations to be a part of a sustainable

agricultural experience. Read more

about their story on page 4.

Planning for the Futureby Karl North and Donn He wes

JULY / AUGUST 2003 NUMBER 90

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

in t h is I s su e

continued on page tw o

2 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #90

We offered a couple of appealing financial

options to prospective new managers including

a conservation easement and a long-term

buyout plan where the new farmers could

accumulate buyout capital in more profitable

investments than farming until they could pay

cash. At the least, they could avoid most of the

initial debt financing that has caused so many

transitions to fail.

As we plan to remain on the farm for the

rest of our lives, we offered to work along with

them as long as we are able and to pay the

new farmers for their labor at over twice the

minimum farm wage until they felt able to run

the business at a profit. Finally, to help them

escape the grip of the credit industry in

another way, we offered to pay initially for

materials of any new buildings they

constructed including a residence and barns

and other facilities for expansion of milk and

cheese production. This agreement has the

added advantage of simplifying the settlement

of financial matters if the partnership were to

dissolve in the early years of the transition.

A Match Made in Heaven

None of these economic enticements met

with success. What finally fetched a couple of

serious candidates were the quality of our

product, the sustainable practices we use to

create it, and the educational function our farm

had begun to fill in the region. In other words,

a couple of idealists like Karl and Jane.

The moral of this story so far, or at least the

conclusion that the experience seems to

indicate regarding farming transition in general,

is that the oppressive, predatory nature of the

farm economy at this time in this country

makes it almost impossible “to make your farm

so attractive that any number of people will be

lining up, able and eager to move the farm

toward its holistic goal.”

It was idealism that motivated the pioneers

in sustainable agriculture, but there are not

enough idealists out there to drive a transition

for all of agriculture. What this suggests is that

we Holistic Management practitioners must

concentrate more on trying to manage the

larger wholes beyond our farms, to create a

food economy that will make a farming

vocation attractive to the next generation. This

will mean getting more involved in the politics

of food, locally and nationally.

The happy ending to our particular

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

Rio de la Vista, ChairAllan Savory, Vice-Chair

Leslie Christian, SecretaryGary Rodgers, Treasurer

Richard SmithManuel Casas

ADVISORY BOARD

Robert Anderson, Chair, Corrales, NMSam Brown, Austin, TX

Leslie Christian, Portland, ORGretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA

Cynthia & Leo Harris, Albuquerque, NMTrudy Healy, Taos, NMClint Josey, Dallas, TX

Dianne Law, Laveta, CODoug McDaniel, Lostine, OR

Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, MexicoJim Parker, Montrose, CO

Dean William Rudoy, Cedar Crest, NMYork Schueller, El Segundo, CA

Jim Shelton, Vinita, OKRichard Smith, Houston, TX

FOUNDERS

Allan Savory

Jody Butterfield

STAFF

Tim LaSalle, Executive Director; Shannon

Horst, Senior Director, Strategic Projects Kate Bradshaw, Director of Finance andAdministration; Kelly Pasztor, Director of Educational Services; Lee Dueringer,

Director of Development; Ann Adams,

Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Membershipand Educator Support Coordinator , Craig

Leggett, Special Projects Manager; Mary

Child, U.S. Education Program and Case StudyDevelopment Coordinator; Constance Neely,

Director of International Training ProgramsDevelopment; Jessica Stolz, FinanceCoordinator.

Africa Centre for Holistic Management

Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwetel: (263) (11) 213529; email:[email protected] Matanga, Director; Roger Parry,

Manager, Regional Training Centre; Elias

Ncube, Hwange Project Manager/TrainingCoordinator

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN:

1098-8157) is published six times a year by The

Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management,

1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-

5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email:

[email protected].;

website: www.holisticmanagement.org

Copyright © 2003.

Ad definitumfinem

Planning for the Future

continued from page one

transition story is that we are in our second

year of what promises to be a successful

evolution of the farm to new management, and

eventually, to new owners. This year, Donn and

Maryrose will build themselves a straw bale

farmhouse designed to carry on the desire for

energy efficiency that has been in our (now

joint) holistic goal.

Donn has a stable town job as a fire fighter

that allows plenty of time for farm work and

provides income and capital for as long as the

acquisition process and development of the

farm requires. We have leased enough adjacent

land to double our open acreage and make

possible a gradual expansion of dairy

production and other grass-based livestock

husbandry.

Early on we researched the formal aspects

of transition, seeking legal counsel and advice

from a farm accountant. Donn and Maryrose

have embraced the Holistic Management®

decision-making framework and have become

active participants in Karl’s learning community.

Although the business end remains Karl and

Jane’s responsibility for now, Holistic

Management has provided a common structure

moving the transition more rapidly toward a

true partnership than might have happened

with another approach.

While much effort was put into finding “the

next generation” this time around, in many

ways the holistic planning that is going on

today should, with time, help make it easier to

find future generations to run the farm. The

concept of a goal that includes attention to the

future resource base has had a significant

impact on planning the farm until now and in

providing continuity in the transition process so

far. Examples of this are the plans for a

conservation easement and the two residences

in the style of the Amish that allow one family

to “start up” while the other winds down.

Donn and Maryrose’s continued work

toward power and water independence will be

valuable in the future when all aspects of

farming can no longer be designed to run on

cheap oil, and water will be more scarce all

over the planet. Much like the slow process of

building soil, planning and preparing in this

way for future transitions should continue

throughout our tenure and into the next.

Karl North is in the Holistic Management ®

Certified Educator Training Program and

resides in Marathon, New York. He can be

reached at [email protected]. Donn He wes

and Maryrose Livingston can be reached at

[email protected].

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • JULY / AUGUST 2003 3

S a vory Center Photo Contest

It’s time to pull out your photo albums

or try out that new digital camera.

Participate in the Savory Center’s Photo

contest as part of our 20th anniversary

celebration starting in 2004.

The contest rules are simple. We will be

accepting photo submissions from July 1, 2003

until September 30, 2003. You can submit up

to five photos that demonstrate how Holistic

Management has influenced your life. These

can be pictures that reflect improved quality

of life (i.e. family holidays, infrastructure, etc.)

or focus on Land/Animals (i.e. before & after

pictures, improved habitat, livestock, pets, etc.)

You can participate in one or both of these

categories.

With each submission, include a written

paragraph explaining the context of the

photo (names and places) and how the

photograph is a result of managing

holistically. Winning entries and honorable

mentions will be printed in the January issue

of IN PRACTICE in a special 4-color insert and

will be posted on the Savory Center website.

Mexico covering all food and lodging

• A self-catering holiday for four at Aspen,

David & Samuel Edge’s El Pabellon retreat in

the Sierra Nevadas in southern Spain

• A doe hunt (in deer season) or a hog hunt

(outside of deer season) at the Reed Ranch in

Corsciana, Texas

• One free night (or two nights at half-price)

lodging at Peter& Judy Howarth’s Jenkin

Street Guest House in Nundle, NSW Australia.

(Not a Saturday night).

• A weekend for 6 at John & Charlotte

Hackley’s Richards Ranch Retreat in

Jacksboro, Texas (includes continental

breakfast on Saturday & Sunday mornings

and Saturday dinner)

• The 15-CD or tape collection of the text

book, Holistic Management

• One copy of the Holistic Management®

Financial Planning Software

• A mesquite wood cutting board from

Mexico by Ivan & Martha Aguirre

• A fine weave basket from Zimbabwe

donated by Allan Savory & Jody Butterfield

• A hand-made mirror from recycled car

parts created by Wiebke Volkmann from

Namibia

Electronic photographs should be taken at

a minimum of 300 dpi and sent at 100% size

to [email protected]. If

you want to scan the photo, please scan at

the same resolution. If you send photos in the

mail, please include a self-addressed envelope

if you would like it returned to you. Photos

should be mailed to: Savory Center Photo

Contest, 1010 Tijeras Ave. NW, Albuquerque,

NM 87102.

This contest is open to anyone. The

judging committee consists of numerous

Savory Center members, Holistic Management

practitioners, Certified Educators, Board of

Directors, and Advisory Board members from

around the world. First, second, and third

place winners in both divisions will select

from a list of available prizes. Winners will

be notified by October 31, 2003.

The current prize list includes:

• A one-week stay at Dimbangombe Ranch

in Zimbabwe covering all food and lodging

• A one-week stay at Ivan & Martha

Aguirre’s Rancho La Inmaculada in Sonora,

Exploring Long-term Profitabilityby Steve Dorrance

Since being demoted to bookkeeper for

our ranch in 1979, I’ve spent a lot of

time trying to keep our operation viable

here in the central coast of California where

land prices are rising exponentially. From

where I sit, agricultural production as the

sole source of income for a ranch hasn’t

been viable since the 1970s. That’s one of

the reasons I aggressively went after

communication tower leases which has

brought in 80 percent of the ranch’s income

over recent years.

But, that income stream has peaked and

the time to look ahead is here again. I’ve been

looking at conservation easements and still

have some reservations about that tool,

although I am extremely grateful to have

it as an option.

When my family decided to explore a

conservation easement, we wanted to address

fragmentation of our ranch lands. We are

fully aware that ranchlands are purchased in

our area for their open space/recreational

just maintaining it, but we haven’t figured out

how to do that yet.

As we have proceeded up the path of

profitability, we’ve learned that:

• Most conservation easements are not funded

for their full amount, so you will probably

end up donating part of the easement;

• Some of the easement terms can be changed

with the consent of the landowner and

easement holder;

• Your landscape plan can be a part of the

easement; and

• It is very important to refer to your

holisticgoal often.

With the conservation easement we are

considering, we can recapitalize our operation

and be better able to handle estate transition

and current income needs. I don’t think we

would have been here when my dad died in

1999 if it hadn’t been for Holistic Management.

It’s time to use that process so we can do the

right thing for the next generation.

Steve Dorrance lives in Salinas,

California and can be reached at

[email protected].

values. The land’s agricultural value is

probably less than $100 per acre, but would

average $25,000 per acre in ranchettes.

Fragmentation is a pretty big deal when

you live off the annual income from the

ranchlands. Long term profitability, being able

to live and work here is important, as well as

being able to hunt and have a bit of leisure

time. It is taking a bit of work to address

these needs.

A local land trust wants to purchase the

continuation of our present landscape. We

have agreed in concept, but are still working

out the details of how the relationship will

continue as the people involved change. How

do you measure biodiversity? Do indicators

such as residual dry matter, trees left

unharvested, no hunting of lions, bears,

coyotes or raptors ensure healthy grasslands,

oak woodlands, or the habitat needed for

lions, bears, coyotes or raptors to flourish?

We’d prefer an easement that pays us for

improving the health of the landscape, not


The Yainix Ranch in the Upper Klamath

Basin in Oregon has a typical history

for the Western U.S. Between

agricultural producers and environmentalists,

the Klamath Basin has been a bone of

contention for years and conflict has run high

around the issue of water rights and land use.

It is home to dozens of endangered species

and a long history of Native American

heritage and agricultural use. Like other land

in this basin, the Yainix was worn out from

chronic overgrazing, and it looked like it was

one more lost ranch in a basin where viable

agricultural production was highly in question.

Until Taylor and Becky Hyde came along.

Creating New Opportunity

In February 2002, Taylor and Becky

purchased the 480-acre (192-ha) Yainix Ranch

at the confluence of the Sprague and Sycan

Rivers. Currently the Sprague waters flow into

Upper Klamath Lake in low volume, high

temperatures, overloaded with nutrients, and

poorly oxygenated due at least in part to such

land practices as poorly timed grazing, control

levies, damaging irrigation practices, and a

generally poorly functioning water cycle.

While the Yainix was about 25 miles from

the Yamsi Ranch near Chiloquin, Oregon

where Taylor and Becky were living with

Taylor’s mother, Gerda, and brother, John,

Becky had never seen the property until

approximately four years ago. She has been

involved in watershed issues in the region for

many years and was representing the Upper

Klamath Basin ranching community as part

of an educational bus tour of watershed

partners. When they happened upon the

property that was to be Yainix Ranch, Becky

was appalled. “It was the most devastated

property I’ve ever seen. There were yearlings

in the stream, and no willows growing

because of the chronic grazing. The sight

of it continued to haunt me.”

Her first step was to contact Martin Goebel

of Sustainable Northwest, a non-profit whose

vision is to develop partnerships to promote

environmentally compatible economic

development in the communities of the Pacific

It wasn’t that the Hydes were poor

financial planners, it was that they needed

a short term remedy to get over the next

payment. What the Hydes and SNW

discovered through this need was an

opportunity that could serve other ranchers

who need “bridge” capital to move toward

more sustainable operations.

So the first step was for SNW to set

up a portion of the Yainix Ranch as an

investment opportunity. After initially

investigating potential response from

philanthropic investors, Sustainable Northwest

developed a prospectus for the Yainix

Ranch Holdings LLC and agreed to be the

investment broker. They also agreed to

approach those potential investors.

The Yainix prospectus educates potential

investors about the financial barriers that arise

when a rancher wants to regenerate degraded

land and remain economically viable as a

business. For this reason, the Yainix “requires

supplementary sources of patient capital to

bride the gap in income created by the shift to

more sustainable grazing practices. Thus, LLC

Members will be essential partners in making

sustainability a reality on the Yainix.” They will

also benefit from gains in real estate values.

James Honey notes that this investment

prospectus was a modest idea that could be

tweaked to work for other ranches. “We sent

that prospectus out to a very focused audience,

and we’ve really been surprised by the interest

generated and how quickly that prospectus

spread. We got responses from people we

hadn’t sent it to. There is a real desire from an

urban population to be involved with the rural

restoration. We are working to tie urban capital

to that rural change.

“We think that the next step might be

to engage some of the socially responsible

investment funds with this kind of work.

As far as I our ongoing role with the Yainix

Ranch, we need to ‘manage’ the investors

through organizing field days and responding

to their requests so the Hydes can spend their

time managing the ranch and working with

the Yainix Partnership. The base of that

management and the changes we have

already seen in one year is the Hydes’ Holistic

Management practices.”

The LLC Operating Agreement plans for

a 10- or 20-year investment period at which

point the Hydes will purchase Members’ shares

of the LLC to become outright owners of the

ranch. A full appraisal of the value will

determine share value and any gain on the

Members investment from the appreciation

I n vesting in a Sustainable Future—

The Yainix Ranchby Ann Adams

Northwest. The Hydes and Becky’s parents,

Doc and Connie Hatfield (all long-time Holistic

Management practitioners), had worked with

Sustainable Northwest before on other

projects. Becky thought that perhaps they

could help them with this project.

She also approached U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service to get more information about the

wildlife value of that corridor. She found out

just how special that property was with two

miles of river, 15 springs, and numerous

potential wetlands. The Hydes realized that

the potential outcome for restoring this

property was huge and wanted to engage all

those who had a vested interest in healthy

land in the Basin as part of the process.

With visions of fish spawning in regenerated

springs, waterfowl and wildlife flocking to

restored wetlands, and increased plant

biodiversity along riparian corridors, the

Hydes took over the lease option on the land

as part of a purchase agreement in February

2002. They also began some planned grazing

with less than half the stocking rate of the

previous owner.

The land is already responding to this

treatment with thousands of willows coming

up in spring areas. “The comeback has been

amazing,” notes Becky. “There’s a lot of nesting

because there is finally some cover where

there hadn’t been any cover before.” In fact,

James Honey, a program officer for Sustainable

Northwest (SNW) who works with the Hydes,

notes that there haven’t been baby willows

along the riparian areas for 20 years. “The

Hydes are already bringing the Yainix back

to life in one season,” says James.

Getting Creative

When Taylor and Becky reduced the

number of cattle on the property to bring it

closer to the sustainable carrying capacity,

they reduced the income they could produce

to service debt. The conservation easement is

expected to make up that difference, but it

was going to take time to design, sell and

implement it. SNW worked with the Hydes

to develop the concept—it was a joint idea,

and untested at that time.


managed ranches. Defenders of Wildlife has

called the Hatfields “pioneers of proper land

stewardship” and “proof that ranching can

be both environmentally beneficial and

economically positive.” The Conservation Fund

has noted that “every private landowner in

American can benefit from the example set

by Gerda Hyde and her family.”

Becky Hyde says, “We are very excited

about the wonderful possibilities presented

by the Yainix. Taylor and I come from

two innovative ranches, and we can

use that background to develop new

opportunities for ranching through

this project.

“Holistic Management plays a part

in everything we do. We were both

raised with it, so it’s really hard to

define how we integrate it in our lives

because it is such a part of us. We’ve

spent hours and hours

talking about our own

personal holistic goal,

and those discussions

shaped our decision to

buy this ranch and

how to go about

engaging with the

larger community.

We have been very

deliberate about

defining our whole,

and how we build

relationships. There’s

no government process

driving us, so we really

do have a lot of

opportunity to see

what can work.

“It’s been an enormous

time commitment to work with this

partnership, really a full-time job, but we’ve

been having fun and are committed to this

process. We wanted to start small so that we

had a greater chance at real, workable

solutions to the problems facing our neighbors

in the Upper Klamath Basin and throughout

the West. We want to make it replicable. Our

idea is to keep it a low-key, open door

approach so anyone can ‘look over our fence,’

and begin to figure out how they can make

changes in their management to improve

their circumstances. We couldn’t have done

this alone.”

Becky and Taylor Hyde can be reached

at [email protected]. James Honey can be

reached at [email protected].

In the first year of operation, the Hydes

will also be working with Sustainable

Northwest and some members of the

partnership on developing a “working lands”

conservation easement for the Yainix that

can serve as a model for other ranchers. Such

a conservation easement would be different

than the more typical conservation easements

in that it would recognize the important

role of livestock and agricultural production,

but pay ranch families to restrict their

management practices

to environmentally

compatible grazing.

Payments would give

ranchers incentives for

changing management practices, and assure

buyers of permanent protection of wildlife

and increased restoration of habitat. They

hope to have a prototype by fall, and have

gone slowly in creating the easement

document because it is such a specific legal

tool. They really want to look at what is

viable, how the easement is monitored and

enforced so the easement supports the

work without being overwhelming. Above

all, the key monitoring criteria for this

easement is an upward trend toward the

future landscape description that everyone

has agreed upon.

Exponential Factoring

At the Yainix Ranch, Becky and Taylor

bring with them a legacy of holistically

due to restoration activity. While agricultural

land values are fairly flat, the “beauty” or

“recreational” value of land (how it looks)

can increase ranch value.

The combined value of the two parcels

of land that make up the LLC’s holding is

$828,000 (the 480-acre Yainix Ranch and the

320-acre Yainix Annex). The current LLC

offering is for $50,000 with a minimum

$5,000 investment for Membership. Within two

months of public offering, the LLC already has

$40,000 in investments with several

additional investors interested.

The prospectus consistently

points out that investors should

see such investment as

philanthropic, patient capital and

that all operating decisions for use

of the real estate will be in the

Hydes’ hands. However, there are

opportunities for the Members to

participate in annual “Open Ranch”

weekends where they can visit the

ranch and learn about the changes

and innovations at the ranch

with other members and the

Hyde family. The weekend will

feature speakers, tours, and an

“appreciation barbeque.” They

will also receive an annual report,

as well as regular, informal

communications and updates and

priority participation in public

events or natural resource-based

businesses (such as guided fly-

fishing) that may operate on the ranch.

In turn, the LLC will lease the ranch to

the Hyde family for their livestock business

and any other businesses that may be

compatible with the Yainix Vision and the

goals of sustainability.

Partnering for Results

Yainix Ranch now hosts regular meetings

of the “Yainix Partnership” as they seek to

collaboratively develop and test new methods

and tools to support private lands stewardship

across the Upper Basin. Besides the Hydes and

Sustainable Northwest, this partnership

includes the Klamath Tribe, federal and state

government agency employees, environmental

groups, and interested ranchers. The ranch will

also be a learning site to share best practices

for sustainability with their neighbors as all

these groups can be involved in the ongoing

monitoring of the ranch’s ecological and

ecomomic health (and culturally sensitive sites

important to the Klamath Tribes).

The Yainix Ranch had all the signs of

“liquidation ranching” (i.e. trash, loss of

biodiversity and eroded river banks), so

Taylor & Becky Hyde will work to improve

the land as all the Hydes have done on the

Yamsi Ranch where Becky and children

play in a stream at right. Abo ve:

Volunteers from the Yainix Partnership

help clear out a tire dump the Hydes

inherited.


Several years ago in a small community

in Texas, a mere flip of a coin

determined much of what consumed

our time for years to come. It’s hard to think

of a nickel being flipped as an estate planning

tool, but it was about the only tool Jim and

his brother had at the time.

At the time of Tillman Reed’s death

(Jim’s father), a revocable living trust was in

operation. This revocable trust contained all

the assets of Jim’s parents and was being

used to operate things up until the death

of the first parent. When Tillman died, the

assets were to be split among Jim, his

brother (Lary), and his mother (Ora Anna).

Most of the task of deciding how the

individual assets were divided fell on Jim

and his brother. Yikes!

This was a crucial test for the Reed

family, since we had read and heard of the

many horror stories of family conflict,

misunderstandings and miscommunications,

and tales of close family members not

speaking to one another for the rest of their

lives. We already understood the possibility

of close family members being forced into

difficult and emotional decisions, which

might have been best made by the deceased.

Both Jim and his brother agreed that it

was best for this not to happen to them.

After most of the interest-bearing assets

were separated out for the benefit of Ora

Anna’s care and immediate income needs,

work began on dividing the remainder of

the assets into two equal parts.

After both Lary and Jim agreed that the

appropriate level of equity was achieved, they

flipped a nickel to see which brother would

receive which set of assets. The ranch was part

of one set of assets, and Jim received the ranch

and other assets by virtue of the coin toss.

Since that coin toss, we’ve had the

opportunity to experience Holistic

Management and how it affects our

happiness, peace of mind, and quality of life.

We felt like it made sense to apply these

same principles to the planning of our estate

rather than rely on a coin toss the next time

around. This article explains the direction

for quality legal, tax, and financial planning

advice. Just like finding good ranch hands,

good estate planning help is hard to find!

Our Story

We were fortunate to find a financial

planner (who’s also an attorney), who’s

willing to listen and learn about Holistic

Management, and also has sufficient

background to understand how important it

is to set goals for yourself. We’ve found that

many attorneys and tax accountants don’t

have sufficient background in goal setting

and many don’t understand its importance. It’s

also tough to find a good fee-based financial

planner, whose livelihood isn’t based on

selling you a product or investment.

The big disadvantage of many financial

planners is that they may not have the

sufficient depth of knowledge or credentials

required to work through all the tax and

legal implications of estate planning. So, to

find good help, you may find yourself

gathering a team to help out; instead of

choosing a single individual.

Once we were able to find someone to

help us, we developed a basic framework from

which we can continue to tweak our estate

plan as we see fit. That framework includes:

• A Will for both of us which creates bypass

and marital trusts at either of our deaths. This

is the strategy we’re using to eliminate or ease

the blow of federal estate taxes if one of us

should die.

• A special provision in our Will referencing

special consideration for the ranch; its goals

and Holistic Management principles. We hope

that such focus will speak volumes to our

kids and others about how a ranch can be

run in a sustainable and profitable manner.

• Special treatment of our separate property

(since there’s an extended family created by

virtue of an earlier divorce). By the way, it’s

important to know the laws within your own

state or country as it can really influence the

choices you make about your estate plan.

• The attachment of our holistic goal to

our Wills, the support of Holistic

Management and consensus building,

and the use of the Holistic Management®

testing questions to manage and resolve

things. You can read our holistic goal at:

http://www.reedfamilyranch.com/

ranchgoals.html.

• The naming of a third party trustee at

both of our deaths.

Most of the estate planning we’ve read

about appears to be driven largely by the size

B e yond Nickel Flipping—

Reed Ranch Estate Planningby Jim and Judy Reed

we’re heading in our estate planning.

K ey Points

Before we get into our specifics, here’s

what we think is the best advice we can offer

you in terms of your own estate planning:

• Estate planning is important for your own

peace of mind and for the generations that

follow. We owe it to the people coming

after us!

• Your estate plan has to be customized to

your own set of circumstances. Like ranches,

everybody’s situation is different!

• It’s very important to keep up-to-date on

your net worth. If you don’t know this, you’re

flyin’ by the seat of your pants!

• GET A WILL, if you don’t have one. Or,

make sure the one you have is UP-TO-DATE!

The size of your estate doesn’t matter.

There’s no excuse for not having a will!

• You should to be prepared to search hard

Lottie and James Lawrence Reed, Jim Reed's

paternal grandparents, in 1890 before coming

to Texas in 1893. James died in 1913 after

falling from a horse and breaking his neck

while working cattle.


of the estate to be settled and methods to

avoid estate taxes. But we’ve planned our

estate plan to integrate Holistic Management

into because it will help future generations to

improve their lives and this land.

Estate Ta xes

Federal estate tax can be mean and ugly!

If not planned properly, estate taxes can take

so much value from the estate that the kids

will have to sell any property because they

can’t afford the taxes. Of course, there are

special provisions for a family-owned business

deduction, so be sure to ask your tax and

accounting expert about this very important

provision. Again, the key is to plan so the

most money can go to the people you want

it to go to. Sure, there are lots of things

beyond your control, and that’s all the

more reason for planning what is in

your control. So here’s some other

things to consider:

• You may not be a millionaire now, but

just think how much your assets may be

valued at in the future. It’s important to

plan both for what’s now and for what’s

in the future.

• Unless you have an up-to-date net

worth statement, you may be worth

more than you think you are.

• You don’t know who’s going to be in

control of the government at the time of

your death, or how badly they will

wants or need your money, so it’s best

not to count on any government policies

that might encourage you not to do your

planning (i.e. potential repeal of estate taxes).

We found out that you don’t have to

be a millionaire to be able to take the

opportunities that’s afforded by doing good

estate planning with all the family included.

It’s our belief that, if you work hard enough

and are committed to it, there’s ways to

have your cake and eat it, too.

Maximizing Your Estate

By planning ahead, you may be able to:

1) Pass on your estate free of all federal

estate taxes

2) Encourage your family in managing your

estate holistically

3) Have little to no family conflict in settling

your estate

4) Keep your property from being sold or

divided to settle your estate

We recognize that there are many other

ways to look at an estate plan and how it can

be influenced by Holistic Management. To us,

example, here’s what we put in our Wills

regarding the desire for the ranch property

to be managed holistically:

“If agriculture ranch property is contained

within any or all of the trusts named herein,

the trustee of the trust(s) shall recognize the

influence of the Holistic Management

principals as promulgated by the Allan Savory

Center for Holistic Management, and shall

give due consideration to the ranch(s) holistic

goal (attached herein). More specifically, the

use of consensus building techniques (led by

a Certified Holistic Educator), and the use of

the seven testing guidelines (as documented

by the Allan Savory Center for Holistic

Management) shall be an integral portion of

the management of any ranch(s) contained

in the trust(s) named herein.”

Working for the Future Now

Lastly, we believe that an integral part

of estate planning has to include some

meaningful financial planning for the on-

going operation of the ranch; and sticking

to it. For us to keep the ranch in the

family and for it to be something

worthwhile in the future, it has to be both

financially and operationally sustainable.

This means holistic financial planning in

a responsible manner; in a way that suits

our needs. More specifically for us, this

means limiting our expenses to half of the

ranch’s income (or planning 50 percent

profit) and operating the ranch with little

or no equipment. One of the most

important things we’ll do in 2003 is to

fulfill our current ranch motto of

“equipment free by the end of 2003.” In doing

so, we are better able to hit our 50 percent

profit objective and add to the health of

the land base.

For several years now, we’ve been posting

all our income and expenses (both ranch and

personal) in Quicken and running net worth

and income/expense reports on a monthly

basis so we can assess our estate on an

ongoing basis.

We hope you found this article

worthwhile and that it may be helpful to

somebody. Holistic Management has helped

us achieve what we want now, and we are

working to make sure it continues to help

the Reed Ranch for generations to come.

Jim and Judy Reed own and operate

Reed Wildlife Ranch in Corsicana,

Texas. They can be reached at:

[email protected] or

[email protected]. Their

website is www.reedfamilyranch.com.

merely passing things down through the use

of a Will, without any regard to what our

heirs will have to pay in estate taxes seems

kind of unfair to the kids (especially if federal

estate taxes can be avoided with a little bit

of work and things are kept neat and tidy

before they’re passed down).

We also wanted to make the execution

of the estate as easy as possible emotionally,

which is why it’s really important to pick the

right executor or trustee if you are setting

up a trust like we did. This is the person that

pretty much calls the shots, and his/her

responsibilities are spelled out in the Will.

These are listed underneath a section in our

Wills called “trustee title, powers, duties,

immunities, and discretions.”

At this time, none of our children are

named as trustees. Although both of us are

named as each other’s trustee in the case of

each of our individual death, our trusted friend

and financial planner/attorney is named as the

alternate trustee and the eventual trustee in

the case of both our deaths.

As each of our children mature and

develop their own lifestyles and interests in

the future, this method of trustee naming

may eventually change if it becomes

apparent a change is needed.

In other words, in consideration of our

own particular situation for family peace

and cooperation, we feel it’s best for the

presumption to be that a third party (other

than a family member) be named as the

trustee, unless it becomes readily apparent

that a single family member can be named,

and there’s a level of confidence that peace

and cooperation can be maintained.

The more you can spell things out in this

section the easier it is on everyone. For

Four generations of Reeds left to right: Jim Reed with

his son, James, granddaughter, Kaylee, and mother,

Ora Anna Reed.

8 LAND & LIVESTOCK IN PRACTICE #90

The tiny town of Saguache, nestled at the foot of the mountains

at the north end of the San Luis Valley in south central

Colorado, is rich in scenery but seemingly little else.

Abandoned buildings, sleepy little neighborhoods, and general

untidiness create a picture that’s all-too-common across the West. The

sign at the town’s edge reads “Gateway to the San Luis Valley.” Most

passers-through are happy to get through the gate and keep right on

going. The town’s decay mirrors that of its surrounding natural

resources. It’s not the sort of place where one would expect to find

any lasting solutions to the complex problems that bedevil our efforts

to steward the earth.

It’s not the sort of place, that is, until you start talking to George

Whitten. George’s family has ranched and farmed on the flats

immediately south of Saguache, and far up into the mountains to the

west, since 1906. He is one of those rare guys possessing a combination

of practical grit, extreme humility, hands-on creativity, and high-minded

idealism. It’s a marriage of traits that has led George down a path of

discovery and learning, and to some realistically doable, holistically

sound solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. I

recently called to find out if I could come pick his brain for a day.

George claimed he could tell me everything he knows “in about ten

minutes.” I pulled up to his house at nine in the morning, and by five

that afternoon we hadn’t stopped talking for more than about three

seconds, and we could have gone on all night. I learned a lot about

the crises currently facing the San Luis Valley, and about George’s

efforts, not only on his own land, but in his community, to tackle

these issues head on.

Water Weary out West

Perceived resource scarcity is nearly always at the root of human

conflict. In the western United States, water is the resource that garners

much of the attention. Farmers, ranchers, wildlife, endangered species,

and western towns all vie for their fair share. So do misplaced

concentrations of humanity (with their thirsty urban landscaping and

water guzzling golf courses) in places like Phoenix and Las Vegas. This

competition grows especially fierce during times of extended drought.

As our desert cities continue their relentless sprawl, and as the water

cycle across our landscapes continues to deteriorate, even “good”

precipitation years will eventually seem like drought years. It’s a

daunting and incredibly complex issue.

In the San Luis Valley, water issues have been debated, researched,

and haggled over for years. Lying at an elevation of 7000 to 8000 feet

(2130 to 2440 meters), surrounded by two of the West’s most dramatic

mountain ranges (the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo ranges), and

comprising the headwaters of the vast Rio Grande watershed, the

San Luis Valley is a microcosm of everything that’s “complicated”

about water. At the soil surface, a whopping 7 inches (180 mm) of

precipitation settles in an average year. Under natural conditions,

most of the valley is a high altitude, very cold semi-desert with about

a 90-day growing season. Beneath the soil surface, a shallow, vast

underground aquifer, made possible by a unique geology and

underground flows from the surrounding mountain ranges, supports

a state-of-the-art agricultural industry based on center pivot sprinkler

irrigation and high dollar (and high input) potato farming. Surface

flows from creeks that cascade out of the mountains, and from canals

diverted out of the Rio Grande itself, are the backbone of the valley’s

haying and cattle/sheep ranching industry.

In 2002, the valley floor received an annual deluge of 6 percent

of its normal 7 inches (180 mm). That’s .42 inches (11 mm) of total

moisture, all year. The surrounding mountains finished the winter

with snowpacks below 10 percent of normal. So far, 2003 has been a

little better, but not much—certainly not sufficient to make up for the

shortfalls of 2002. As I write, snowpack is at 43 percent of normal and

falling daily due to high winds and no new moisture. During last year’s

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

JULY/AUGUST 2003 #90

The Whitten women rest after working on a seeding project over a

new pipeline on their summer Bureau of Land Management range.

From left to right: George's daughter Denise, granddaughter Elise, and

wife Julie.

The Whitten Ranch—

Creating More with Lessby Jim Howell

IN PRACTICE • JULY / AUGUST 2003 LAND & LIVESTOCK 9

growing season, static water levels in irrigation wells dropped

precipitously valley-wide, surface water flows dried up early in the

season or never started flowing to begin with, artesian wells that

hadn’t stopped flowing since being untapped suddenly ceased

production, and native range grasses on the hills skirting the valley

never greened up, preventing ranchers from going to their summer

ranges and forcing many to severely destock. Suddenly, the gross

unsustainability of the valley’s agricultural model hit everyone

smack in the face.

Ready for Drought

But back on the Whitten Ranch, things were tough, but not grim.

George attended his first Holistic Management courses about 15 years

ago, and could immediately see lots of room for improvement on

his own place, coupled with some

realistic means to get it done. Fifteen

years later, he has figured out how

to get by on a fraction of his former

water use. He has increased the

diversity and vigor of the plants

in his irrigated meadows and hilly

native rangeland, and they can thrive

even in dry years. He has selected

a herd of cows that can hold their

condition and breed back on tight

rations through fierce winters, and in

dry summers when the pickin’s are

slim. He has cultivated his creative,

inventive side and makes, builds, and fixes just about everything with

salvaged scraps that most of us would throw into the junk heap. His

rare purchases are generally made at a steal, opportunely nabbing

“priceless” assets that others find useless. When the drought of 2002

hit the San Luis Valley, George was ready for it.

When you’ve got rights to water coming out of the ground in

great natural gushes or in perennially flowing creeks and rivers, the

tendency of most humans is to use it all, assuming the wetter the

ground the better. For many years, when flood irrigation ruled, this

was the case in the San Luis Valley. Today, all of the water is still used,

but most of it is pumped through center pivot sprinklers, and very

little of it reenters the aquifer. With heavy flood irrigation, a big chunk

of the water at least percolated back into the underground aquifer, so

there was plenty of recharge. With the sprinklers, this vital recharge

isn’t happening, which is at the root of the present crisis. Under heavy

flood irrigation (still in practice across much of the valley, especially on

hay and pasture ground), the plant communities that developed were

far from ideal. They progressed to hydrophytic, water-loving rushes

and sedges. It looked good, but these plants are high in fiber and

tough to digest, especially if not put up as hay while still green. They

don’t tap the soil’s natural productive capacity either. Water-logged

conditions and poor aeration result in low levels of evapotranspiration

and thus photosynthesis.

George used to use all his water, but with a greater awareness of

how plants grow and the ill effects of over-irrigation, now uses roughly

half of his former use. Most of the irrigated ground has never been

plowed or worked in any way, so is still characterized by a true mosaic

of slightly undulating topography. Within a few feet, the ground can

transition from a knob, to a gentle slope, to bottom ground, and then continued on page 10

right back up to another knob. We’re talking elevation differences of

inches, not feet. When George floods this type of ground, he only lets

the water run through the bottoms and part way up the slopes. The

knobs never get inundated, but they do get water through sub-surface

moisture that percolates over from the low areas.

Before, when the whole pasture was inundated for prolonged

periods, the entire landscape was dominated by rushes and sedges.

Now, the knobs support a very high quality species of vetch

(a leguminous forb) along with a diversity of native and introduced

grasses. The slopes are dominated by high quality white clover. The

bottoms still contain a high concentration of Baltic rush, but also

support higher quality grasses such as timothy. Overall, biological

productivity has increased dramatically. On satellite images that

measure plant evapotranspiration rates (which is directly correlated

to photosynthetic activity) George’s ranch stands out like a sore

thumb. Inside George’s fence,

evapotranspiration is double that

of the neighbors, with roughly

half the water usage.

Grazing Patterns

With the exception of last year’s

drought, this irrigated ground (along

with several hundred acres of dryland

range down on the flats) has always

been used for winter feed. In 2002,

George elected to stay off his summer

range in the foothills southwest of

Saguache. He knew the extreme

drought conditions would keep his native grasses (dominated by

ground-hugging, sod-forming, warm season blue grama) from

recovering from their previous season’s grazing, and even though

the BLM (government agency that administers the public lands

grazing permits throughout much of the West) gave him the green

light to graze, George kept his cows home. Without his usual summer

grass, severe replanning was necessary. By having to graze the

flatland through the summer as well as the winter, his grazing

planning indicated a need to destock 30 percent and buy two

months worth of hay.

In most years, and starting again this year, George’s typical pattern

is to use the native hills for four months in the summer, beginning in

mid-June and coming off in mid-October, when the cattle return to the

flat country and stay clear through the winter till late spring. Many of

the species in the irrigated areas lose much of their quality after going

into dormancy. This is especially so for the coarser rushes and grasses

that grow in the bottom areas. The quality drops off so much that it’s

hard to get cattle to even eat them. The higher quality clovers and

vetches also lose quality, but the bigger problem is that their more

succulent form causes them to shrivel up to nothing in the dry,

extreme cold of winter. To conserve this forage in a form that could

be used by the cattle, George’s family used to spend all summer

putting up close to 30,000 small bales of hay, much of which was sold.

Cut and Pile Hay

Beginning about 15 years ago, George and his brother, Donnie,

changed that whole ritual and began conserving forage quality in a

George Whitten found that this 1946 Case Tractor and dump

rake did the job when he needed to find a more economically ,

ecologically, and socially sound way to conserve forage quality .


much more ecologically, economically, and socially sound way. Now,

the irrigated forage is left to grow throughout most of the 90-day

growing season. In late August/early September, when the grasses and

legumes are still green but have produced mature, viable seed, George

sends out his 80+ year old dad (George Sr.) on an old windrower first

thing in the morning. After George Jr. gets done with morning chores,

he heads out with an old 24-foot (7.3 meter) -wide dump rake pulled

by a 1946 Case tractor. Driving with the rake perpendicular to the

freshly cut windrows, George gathers up two rows at a time into small

piles. As the rake starts to ride up over the pile, he trips the rake, the

pile gets dumped, and the next pile begins to form. George Jr. (on the

rake) catches up to George Sr. (on the windrower) by mid-afternoon.

The forage has to be piled when

wet and green. If it’s left to dry before

being piled, there is a great risk that the

gale force winds that sweep the valley

floor could blow the whole season’s

crop over the Sangre de Cristos and

into Kansas. The piles are loose and

highly aerated, and because of the very

dry, cold air, don’t grow any mold

inside. We looked at the last few piles

of the season, cut 8 months prior, and

they were still fresh and green under

the weathered surface. The piles

typically test 9-11 percent crude protein,

which is about the same as when baled. I asked if snow cover ever

made them inaccessible, and George said they seldom if ever get

enough snow for that to be a problem. He actually prefers to get a

nice layer of snow on the ground. The snow cover protects the piles

against the intense solar radiation of their dry, high climate, and less

of the forage on or near the pile’s surface deteriorates in quality.

The piles are rationed out with portable electric fence, with just

enough piles allotted per day to meet the herds’ needs. This minimizes

waste, maintains a constant plane of nutrition, and keeps the cattle

happy with a daily, predictable routine. If there is snow on the ground,

daily rationing is even more important. As soon as the snow gets

compacted around the piles, the piles get frozen in place. More than

one day of trampling results in excessive snow compaction and lots

of wasted forage.

Waiting till September to cut and pile, after the seed is hard and

mature, has great ecological benefits. Typically, hay is put up before

the seed is viable. Even if it is viable, a specific bale of hay is seldom

fed exactly where it grew. Any viable seeds are therefore not

necessarily dropped in the specific ecological microniche where

they are most likely to germinate and grow. With cut-and-pile forage

conservation, the forage is piled in nearly the exact location where it

grew, and all those viable seeds are right where nature would have

naturally deposited them. A diversity of small mammals uses the hay

piles as winter cover, which in turn has drawn healthy populations of

raptors. Economically, taking into account all costs, George estimates his

cost per ton of piled forage at about $10. The cost of making hay is at

least triple that, not including the machinery, fuel, and labor expense

to feed it all back out again. Because it requires so much less work,

and because they aren’t fretting constantly about rain falling on

drying windrows (which was the case back in the days of baling),

the quality of life benefits are right up there with the financial and

ecological benefits.

Out on the Range

Up on the summer range, called Tracy Canyon, which takes in

about 20,000 acres (8,000 ha) of “dry, tough old country,” George has

developed three permanent pastures, but strings portable fence “all

over the place” to create dozens of smaller interior, temporary

paddocks. He uses high ridgelines and

other topographical features, along

with these strategically placed portable

fences, to create these smaller divisions.

The temporary fences are typically

wound through areas that have

sufficient brush to keep the wire off

the ground, so very few posts are

needed. Generally, he plans to vary the

timing of grazing so that each patch of

ground gets grazed at different points

in the growing season in successive

years. Most areas will only receive one

grazing per year, but sometimes

exceptional moisture will generate enough recovery that the cattle can

return to some spots for a second grazing. Lots of effort has been put

into developing water points. Small springs at the tops of drainages

(the largest produces only 1.3 gallons/5 liters per minute) are plumbed

together with 1.5 inch (38 mm) black poly pipe to create water flows

capable of watering the 200+ head herd.

George admits that after 15 years of careful grazing planning on the

Tracy, grass species diversity hasn’t appreciably improved, but there has

been a great influx of valuable shrubs such as saltbush and winterfat.

Cottonwood trees have also begun to make a comeback along riparian

areas. Because he has minimized overgrazing of existing plants so

effectively, those plants do show an increase in vigor, but George still

isn’t satisfied. He’s not sure if the grass community will ever really

take off as long as “every year grazing” during the growing season

continues. George feels plants in this low production, highly brittle

country need the chance to periodically grow through an entire

growing season without being grazed, allowing them to build roots and

accumulate significant above-ground material that can add to the litter

bank. By grazing/impacting every year, even under well-timed, well-

planned grazing, it’s tough for either of these things to happen. With

new pipelines and water points developed this spring, George has

opened up lots more country that previously was poorly utilized by

cattle. He plans to use those areas (which are suffering from too much

recovery, or overrest) more heavily in the near term, enabling the

planning of longer recovery periods on much of his historically more

frequently grazed/impacted country.


continued from page 9

The forage is piled up green and wet to keep the gale winds

that rip through the valley floor from blowing it to Kansas.

rights are only valid during the

growing season. If water is trapped

in a reservoir during the winter, or

diverted into a gravel pit to run

back into the aquifer, or even run

out on the ground and stored as

ice, it’s a different use of the water.

Now it’s “storage water,” and that

use has to be filed on.

George thought he had the

answer, but his neighbors all

balked at the idea of filing on

water that they already assumed

was theirs. After months of futile

attempts to convince his neighbors

that winter flows were indeed

not theirs for the taking, George

took desperate measures and filed

on most of the water himself.

Suddenly he got everyone’s

attention. To make a long story

short, now the ranchers along

Saguache Creek are working

together to get some of this winter

flow back into the ground via

diversion into large gravel pits. If

they can measure a rise in the

water table as a result, that water

will legally be theirs during the

growing season. North Star Farm

would not be able to use it, thus

ensuring the aquifer would not be

pumped dry. Hopefully, with a

higher water table, Saguache Creek

would also provide surface flows

longer into the growing season, and potentially all season. It’s a grand

and complicated scheme, but George is convinced it just might work.

Tough Country, Tough Critters

Wintertime temperatures in the San Luis Valley are among the

coldest in the U.S. Mid-winter lows can drop to -20 to -30 F (-30 to

-35 C) for weeks at a time. Strong, whipping winds amplify the

extreme cold even further. The high altitude can cause pulmonary

hypertension (commonly called brisket disease) in cattle, which are

more adapted to lower elevation grasslands. The sparse, erratic,

unpredictable precipitation creates a sparse forage resource on the

native ranges, and on the valley floor, high soil alkalinity and

molybdenum excesses can create bovine metabolic disorders. Despite

the abundant ground water and dramatic scenery, the San Luis Valley

is a long ways from paradise, and it takes one heck of a tough cow

to make a living here. George’s selection criteria are pretty


When he was growing up, the

Whittens were sheep ranchers,

and they used the Tracy for

winter sheep grazing. George

remembers knee high blue

gramma blowing in the wind way

back when he was little. The

sheep would willingly graze right

to the ridges, and as long as there

was a little snow on the ground,

the sheep didn’t need any other

source of water. George thinks

this well-distributed dormant

season grazing and impacting

(on predominantly warm season

grasses) might be what the

country is truly adapted to.

Local Water Challenges

George has figured out how

to make his own country work,

but he’s intimately connected to

all of his neighbors via their

common water resource. Because

of the way his neighbors are

managing their water, sustainable

production of high quality forage

and beef on the Whittens is

under grave threat. Saguache

Creek runs down through or near

most of the Whitten Ranch, and

historically they’ve relied on its

flow during the growing season

to irrigate roughly half of their

flat country. The other half is

watered by wells. For the past two years, no water has made it far

enough down Saguache Creek to use for irrigation. The same goes for

many of George’s neighbors. A massive haying operation, North Star

Farm (formerly South Farm) just south of Saguache, is the likely

culprit. Thirty-four center pivot sprinklers pull water from the aquifer

that obviously is directly tied to Saguache Creek. Last summer, for

the first time ever, the static water level in the ranch’s ultra-reliable

irrigation wells dropped down so low that the pumps started to surge.

George had to spend several thousand dollars to drop the pumps.

A form of encroachment on another’s property? Absolutely. But how

can it be proven, tracked, quantified?

George got to thinking. When North Star Farm’s center pivots shut

down in the fall, Saguache Creek starts to run again, and it runs all

winter. George figured that if only that winter flow could somehow

be used to build up the aquifer during the non-growing season, they

could quantify that rise in the water table, and would then be entitled

to its use the following growing season. But in Colorado, surface flow

Come winter, the cattle can break through snow (in this case

12 inches or 309 mm) to get to the forage.

Even after eight months of curing, this forage can still be fresh and

green, typically testing at 9-11 percent crude protein.

continued on page 12

straightforward and practical—if a cow can hold enough condition to

breed back every year, she’s got a home. That’s it. Longer legged, bigger

framed cows have a tougher time pulling that off than moderate

framed, deep bodied animals.

Calves are weaned in mid-November, steers are sold in December,

and cull heifers go off the place in January. He weans with a four-

strand electric fence, with mammas on one side and youngsters on the

other. Replacement heifers stay out of the herd for about a month at

weaning, then go back in with everybody else and never come out

again. That places them under

strict selection pressure, and

George insists a heifer learns to

be a lot better cow if she grows

up with her older relatives. The

herd started out as straight

Herefords, just like nearly every

cow herd across Colorado. In

the ‘70s, a switch to Angus bulls

added hybrid vigor and black

hides. In the mid ‘80s, George

started crossing his black baldy

cows to Tarentaise bulls, a high

altitude, very fertile, very tough

dual purpose breed from the

French Alps. That put a little

more milk and hardiness in

them, but George was getting

concerned that they were

getting a little too milky for his

tough country. For the past

several years, he’s been sourcing

bulls from Kit Pharo. Out on the

short grass prairie of eastern

Colorado, Kit runs his cows tougher than most commercial cattlemen.

He offers a line of small to moderate framed forage tested bulls,

mostly of English breeding.

Looking to the Future

That’s the water, grass, and cow side to this story, but it’s the people

side that’s really inspiring. In the fall of 2000, George found himself in

the middle of building a new house, but with no partner to share it.

One of his best buddies told him that his potential mate was unlikely

to come driving up his driveway; he had to get out and look a little.

Turned out that a search wasn’t necessary, because that mate, Julie

Sullivan, pulled through the ranch gate without any prodding. Julie has

had a remarkable career as an unconventional college professor. For

10 years, she taught full-time with the Audubon Expeditionary

Institute, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in

environmental studies and environmental education (accredited by

Lesley University of Cambridge, Massachusetts).

For an entire semester, 15 to 20 students and two to three faculty

travel hundreds to thousands of miles by school bus and sleep in tents.

Each semester trip focuses on a particular geographic region of the U.S.,

and students explore every aspect of the ecological, social, and

economic issues of the specific region. The Audubon Institute faculty

caught wind of this George Whitten guy out at the headwaters of the

Rio Grande, and thought he’d probably be an interesting character to

look up. It didn’t take long for George and Julie to realize they’d been

looking for each other for a long time, and by July of 2001 they were

married. Julie remains associated with the college, and they have

plans to develop a semester course that will be based out of the

Whitten Ranch.

George has three

children from a previous

marriage—Denise, Margo,

and Kirk. Denise and her

husband Marcos have

recently made the

decision to leave their

jobs (as a dental assistant

and plumber) in Pagosa

Springs, and have moved

back over the San Juans

and settled into their new

lives back on the ranch.

They are taking over the

ranch’s alfalfa and grass

hay production enterprise

(on a separate property

from George’s grazing

properties), and are

planning to bring

commercially viable

sheep production back

to the Whitten Ranch

enterprise mix. Son, Kirk, and his wife, Caitlin, are also keen to return

to the ranch, but they’re still working out the details. George, Julie,

and Denise have a contagious enthusiasm and inspiring vision, and

for good reason. They’re living their lives fully, consciously, and

deliberately toward their deepest human values. They are in harmony

with their soils and plants, their water, their animals, their wildlife, and

their community. They are free of debt and, due to George’s self-

sufficient, penny-pinching habits, the ranch has always turned a profit.

They humbly envision themselves as catalysts for change in the

human race’s transition to a more holistically-grounded culture. Julie is

passionate about erasing the “false polarity” that blocks constructive

dialogue between well-meaning environmentalists and direct users of

the land, between the urban masses and the rural minority. There is no

polarity—we are all humans with the same essential needs living in the

same ecosystem. As George puts it, “We came to America as Europeans,

and we’re managing our resources like we’re still in

Europe. We can’t make Europe out of this cold desert. We need to

learn to be Americans.” Well said, George. Thanks again for taking

the day off to show me around.


The calf in this picture is lying along yesterday’s temporary electric fenceline. T o

the left of the calf, you can see the area that has been grazed. To the right, the

cattle are working on the pile du jour.


continued from page 11


by Ian Mitchell-Innes

The tall grass veld (range) of the Natal region of South Africa

is incredibly productive, beautiful country. In its natural state,

a diverse plant community and a favorable climate create

thousands of niches for many varieties of game and non-game

mammals, hundreds of bird species, and thousands of insects. It is

paradise for many forms of life. Unfortunately, it’s paradise for many

organisms that also make life challenging. For cattle ranchers, one of

these nagging forms of life is the tick—and not just one type of tick.

We have numerous species, many of which carry disease organisms

that infect cattle, creating lethal tick-borne diseases.

Ten years ago, before my introduction to Holistic Management, I

was running my cattle as all good ranchers in this part of the world

do: plunge dipping my entire

herd every second week (with

organophosphate and pyrethroid

parasiticides). The dipping worked.

My cattle were clean of ticks, and I

had been successful enough to buy

another two ranches. But suddenly,

my cattle started to become infected

with tick-borne diseases and many

of them died. I was frantic and

called in a vet. He claimed my cattle

were too clean and had no

immunity. Some exposure to the

tick-borne diseases is desirable, he

said, as it enables the animals to

build antibodies against the invading

organisms. If the cattle are so clean

that this antibody production never

takes place, then when they do inevitably acquire a dose of ticks, they

are highly susceptible to the tick-borne diseases.

To avoid a total catastrophe, the vet suggested I “block” the entire

herd. This meant that each apparently healthy animal would receive

one-third the dose of antibiotics normally used to treat obviously

infected animals. The theory is that if the disease organism is present

in the apparently healthy animal, this lesser dose of medicine would

kill the organism before it had the chance to multiply to lethal levels.

Of course, the down side to this was that I was destroying any

resistance that some of the animals may have been in the process

of developing against the tick-borne diseases.

After negotiating this crisis, I decided I needed to take a more

sustainable approach to battling this problem. After much consultation

with our veterinary institute, I decided to follow a route whereby I

could lift the immunity of the whole herd. I planned to gradually

reduce dipping, allowing the cattle to support minor levels of tick

infestation. I had been warned this approach took great courage, as

cattle would still die. It would take some time for the correct immunity

levels to be reached. After seven years, I reached a stage where I was

dipping only once a year and spot treating the odd animal that had an

overload of ticks.

By observing my wild game, I noted that they had very few ticks

while the cattle were heavily loaded. My conclusion was that by

dipping constantly I had destroyed the beef herd’s ability to shed ticks.

Over a period of time of reduced dipping, the cattle started to regain

this natural ability, and the herd’s immunity has improved to the point

where I have no sick cattle from tick-borne disease.

In practicing Holistic Management, I started to become aware of

all the other benefits of not dipping. Dung beetles, which I had not

seen on the property since I was a small boy, started to return. Red

billed oxpeckers, which are birds that sit on the cattle and feed on

ticks, returned. The Guinea

fowl population has increased

dramatically, as has the Shelley’s

partridge (game bird). It was

obvious to me that the dip

chemical was not only killing

ticks but all sorts of insects

on which the natural bird

population relied.

In Allan Savory’s Holistic

Management , he cites examples

where losing one specie leads to

the loss of many other species

because of their interdependence.

The same principle must apply

in the opposite direction: when

a specie returns, many others

are likely to return as well.

This has happened here.

Thirty years ago, my uncle reintroduced warthog (not seen

here in my father’s lifetime) and failed; they simply disappeared.

Having practiced Holistic Management for five years and having had

success in introducing many other species of game, I put in an order

for warthog. The day after I confirmed the order, I saw my first two

warthogs on this ranch. They must have traveled miles to get here,

and I must have created a desirable environment for them. I think that

because I have stopped using chemicals there are more ants. Because

there are more ants, there are more ant bears (aardvarks); and because

there are more ant bears, there are more ant bear holes. Warthogs rely

on ant bear holes as a haven from predators. We are now two years

on, and the warthogs have more than quadrupled in numbers.

With the return of many species of insects, birds, and game to

the ranch, it has given me a better understanding of the power of

the testing guidelines when making a decision towards a future

resource base.

Ian Mitchell-Innes can be reached at [email protected]

Parasite Poisoning Kills More than Bugs—

Losing Biodiversity with Chemicals

Once we stopped poisoning for ticks, many small organisms that

we were unintentionally killing returned to our land. These

organisms—the food source for many other forms of life—allo wed

Guinea f owl to return (among many others).


New Financial Coordinator

The Savory Center is pleased to introduce

our new Financial Coordinator, Jessica Stolz.

A New Mexico

native, Jessica

graduated from

New Mexico State

University with a

degree in Finance

and a minor in

Global Political

Economy. While

in Las Cruces,

Jessica was active

as the Secretary/

Treasurer for the

Young Democrats

and as Business Manager for the campus

newspaper, The Round Up. As a volunteer she

also participated in fundraising activities for the

Student Association of Latin American Studies.

Jessica’s other volunteer interests have also

included work as a literacy aide, and she is

currently exploring a volunteer position for

Westcorp, a local non-profit working with

microlending for women. She is also beginning

her studies for CPA credentials and then will

begin work on a Masters in Finance.

Jessica was eager to join the Savory Center

because of our global focus and the variety of

tasks that she would be involved in as part of

her employment. “I really wanted to work for a

company that was working for more than just

a profit. The Savory Center’s mix of profit and

non-profit work around the world seemed very

suited to my varied finance interests.”

Electronic Back Issues

The Savory Center now has back issues

#71-89 on sale, all on one CD. The price for

all these issues is normally $60, but this CD is

only $25 plus shipping and handling. To order,

see the back page of this issue.

Recent West Ranch Activities

Joe and Peggy Maddox, ranch managers for the

West Ranch Cooperative Field Station, hosted

an all-day field trip of hands-on activities for the

Ozona, Texas third grade on May 2, 2003.

Students began the field trip with “How the

Wind Helps Us” curriculum at a ranch windmill

where they learned how the windmill pumps

water from underground. Continuing on to the

ranch headquarters for lunch, kite flying, and

storytelling, the third graders returned to Ozona

of Texas at Austin

and Savory Center

Board Member

Dr. Manuel Casas at

the Chapa de Mota

Research Station

in Mexico.

The other two

interns are Julie

Zimmerman and

Nate Chisholm. Julie is

currently studying

Resource Management

at Cal Poly in San Luis

Obispo, California and wants to get hands on

experience at the West Ranch. Nate has just

recently graduated from Montana State

University and wanted to be an intern to

learn more about how to integrate human

communities into healthy ecosystems.

Correction

In our list of contributors from last year, the

Savory Center inadvertently left out Jim &

Carol Hutchinson. We regret this error, and

greatly appreciate the contributions made by

all our members.

S a vory Center Bulletin Board

Jessica Stolz

The Ozona third grade class in Crockett County, Texas enjoying a break

between kite flying and learning about the wind at the West Ranch.

at the end of the day having learned more about

their natural resources and the human resources

within their community.

The Maddoxes are also busy orienting five

new interns at Ozona that will work and learn

through the summer. Juan Carlos Garcia Avilez,

Odette Gomez Garcia, and Janice Ramirez Castro

are all interning on an exchange from

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

where they are all currently in the College of

Veterinary Medicine. This exchange was made

possible with the help of Dr. Dick Richardson at

the University

Savory Given Major

Environmental Award

On May 30, Allan Savory was presented one of

Australia’s most prestigious environmental

awards, the International Banksia Award. The

Banksia Environmental Foundation gives the award

each year to “individuals who have made, or are

making, a significant contribution for the betterment of our environment on a global level.” Past

winners include Rachel Carson, Sir David Attenborough and Dr. David Suzuki, among others.

The award was sponsored by DuPont and presented by its Vice President of Safety, Health

and Environment, Paul Tebo. Dr. Tebo is the driving force behind efforts to steer DuPont’s global

operations toward zero injuries, illnesses, incidents, wastes and emissions. And, he is eager to

follow up with the Savory Center to learn more about Holistic Management and how it could

benefit this initiative.

The Banksia Foundation’s Board selects the winner each year from a pool of nominees

whose activities they have followed for several years. Their reasons for selecting Allan this year:

Allan Savory has developed what is widely believed to be an entirely new

decision-making framework through which all people, regardless of their location,

industry or circumstances, can make decisions that are simultaneously environmentally,

socially and financially sound in both the short and long term—Holistic Management.

In short, Holistic Management appears to be a way of putting people back in control

of their destinies and restoring a sense of direction in tough times. Many thousands of

families and businesses around the world are now successfully using the new

framework to radically improve the quality of their lives while simultaneously

regenerating the resource base that sustains them.

Allan Savory at the InternationalBanksia A ward Ceremony near

Brisbane, Australia.


observe life in the villages, but to actively

participate:

“Enjoy children? Join us in primary school;

expect to clap and sing and dance, since the

children do. Or, tell us if you’d like to teach.

“Do you teach? Join us in secondary school.

What you say will be warmly received, just

because you are someone new, from

somewhere else.

“Sing/wish to worship? Join us, Sundays,

in a village church.

“Work with women? Join our women’s

micro-banking project, where entrepreneurs

seek micro-loans and help in launching

ventures.”

In every case visitors

have been so moved by

their experiences with the

villagers that they have

offered to help in any way

they can. And they have.

The villagers in turn have

developed a new

appreciation for what

tourism can become.

“I take every eco-tourist safari to one

primary school,” says Jeff. “Each visit is a

joy—at the beginning. As our truck arrives,

200 kids pour out the doors (and windows),

then surround us, dancing, shouting and

shaking our hands.

“Then they lead us on a singing, dancing

tour of their classrooms—and it is hard to

conceal our shock. A normal classroom holds

58 kids, 6 chairs, no tables, 7 exercise books,

9 pencils, no magic markers, chalk, colored

pencils, puzzles, games, paint, brushes, rulers,

pens or anything else. The roof leaks and the

children lie on the wet cement floor in neat

disciplined rows, chanting lessons to the

teacher’s beat—”A-B-C-D-E-F-”, etc. They write

each letter on the floor—with their forefingers.

They have no books. Nor can they be

bought in town.

“Recess: The kids do have one ball. They

made it out of plastic shopping bags, hand-

held and melted together on a cook fire.”

Jeff has instigated partnerships between

Dimbangombe Conservation Safaris (DCS) and

the teachers/parents of several schools. DCS

provides tools and expertise, the parents and

Africa Centre Update—

A Splendid Partnership

Jeff Fadiman

Three years ago, after visiting the


in Zimbabwe, Jeff Fadiman

approached us with an idea. We had

developed the beginnings of an ecotourism

enterprise in an effort to make the Africa

Centre less reliant on outside funding to

further its educational programs. What Jeff

was offering to do was to turn our

amateurish efforts into an operation that

would not only be profitable but also set the

standard for what “ecotourism” should be.

Dr. Jeffrey Fadiman is Professor of Global

Marketing, High Risk Regions at San Jose

State University (Silicon Valley), California.

Educated at Stanford and elsewhere, he

taught for the U.S. Peace Corps, was a two-

time Fulbright Scholar (Kenya and South

Africa), worked as a Kenya Safari guide, and

learned to speak Swahili and Zulu along the

way. He publishes in three disciplines

(African History, Global Marketing, Foreign

Relations), and has 4l publications,

including five books.

Jeff got to work right away, renaming our

enterprise, Dimbangombe Conservation Safaris

(after the name of the property on which the

Africa Center is located), revamping the

activities we had to offer and molding them

into highly desirable packages that proved

irresistible to the clients he soon started

sending our way. Each group would start

their safari with a wilderness awareness

course led by Africa Centre staff member

Roger Parry. “Walk into the bush with us,”

writes Jeff. “Then watch, touch, smell, taste

and listen—by day and night. Learn to sense,

smell and hear animals before they appear, as

they sense, smell and hear you before you

appear. Learn how dangerous animals, birds,

reptiles and insects behave. Once you know,

you can plan ahead, respond appropriately

and even interact.”

These courses, and all the activities

now offered are not only adventurous but

educational. And as attractive as that has been

to all visitors, the most meaningful part of

their experience is the time they get to spend

with villagers in the Wange Communal Lands

that neighbor Dimbangombe. Jeff’s idea from

the beginning was for visitors not to just

teachers agree to provide whatever skills

and labor are needed to get every child up

off cement floors, into chairs and at desks,

and our ecotourists agree to become what

Jeff calls “educationaries.” Each brings one

daypack of educational supplies (and one

ball) on safari.

As we said at the beginning, Jeff’s aim is

to set a new standard for ecotourism. We’re

just glad he chose us to be his example.

In addition to his efforts in the ecotourism

department, Jeff has also launched an intern

program to complement one we initiated two

years ago with an organization in the U.K.

Jeff recruits MBA students from San Jose State

who pay their own costs to participate in a

six-week internship at Dimbangombe in

ecotourism, and wildlife and conservation

marketing/management.

Jeff is also actively involved in the

development of the wildlife management

college we launched informally early this

year with a game scout training course that

included an introduction to Holistic

Management. He is assisting us in developing

the college curriculum and has also

established contact with other wildlife

colleges in East and Southern Africa with

whom we hope to establish links.

We are indebted to Jeff for all of this.

His efforts have greatly enhanced the good

will the Africa Centre staff have worked

hard to earn in our local community over the

years. Where we once reached out to the

community and found only a modest number

of takers, they now reach out to us and in

far greater numbers.

So That All May Benefit

In April the Africa Centre for Holistic

Management received a grant from

the Canadian International

Development Agency (CIDA) for

$15,000 (Canadian) that will give our

staff additional resources for promoting

gender equity/sensitivity in all their

programs. The funds for this two-year

project will cover the time of a “gender

specialist” who will provide training to

our staff and through them to the local

chiefs who serve on the Africa Centre’s

Board of Trustees, our village-based

Holistic Management facilitators, and

ultimately to the community at large.


forage coming from the big four tallgrass prairie

species—little bluestem, big bluestem, Indian

and switch—those tallgrass species are only

30 percent to 40 percent of the total. There are

short and mid-grasses and high successional

forbs that fill in to make a stable, healthy

prairie community.” By monitoring, they know

they are seeing less bare ground and an

increase in the plant species they desire.

In their forms of production, they have to

generate profit, so that they can afford to

manage the land toward that future landscape

description. One decision they made to

accomplish that was to run sheep and cattle

together. Clint says that took real persistence

and patience on Robby’s part, because they

have guard dogs that stay with the sheep.

When they combined the cattle and sheep, the

dogs would try to chase the cattle off and the

cattle would try to chase the dogs off. Robby

started grazing them in adjacent pastures.

Then on horseback he would ease the sheep

through the cattle or the cattle through the

sheep until the dogs and the cattle relaxed.

Now they all hang together quite contentedly.

One benefit to combining the sheep and

cattle is that they don’t need to reduce cow

numbers in order to add sheep, because much

of what they eat is complimentary, and they

all eat the overabundant cool season grasses.

In addition to conflicts between cattle and

dogs, Clint and Robby also struggled with

horses and cattle. They used to have brood

mares and sell weanling colts, but they found

that the horses deliberately keep the cattle

away from the water points. Because they

wanted a single herd of animals for effective

grazing management, they stopped raising

horses.

When asked what they are most proud of

accomplishing, Robby says, “being able to do

as much as we do with as little help as we

have.” Clint believes that Holistic Management

has helped them do that and keep labor costs

down because while it requires more

planning, the result is that you don’t need as

much overhead.

When we asked Clint why he has invested

in such a long-standing and deep commitment

to Holistic Management both with the Savory

Center and with HRM of Texas, he thought

for a moment, and replied, “It’s the only thing

I’ve seen that works. It’s the way to save

agriculture.”

For more information about the

Rendezvous 2003, please see the

enclosed flyer.

For those of you considering coming to

the Rendezvous 2003 on September 26-

28, 2003, I thought it would be helpful

to learn a little bit more about Clint Josey’s LO

Ranch, so I went out to interview him this

spring at the LO Ranch.

Petroleum engineering is Clint’s vocation,

but his avocation is ranching. He purchased

the LO Ranch piecemeal beginning in 1974,

with five tracts at Leo comprised of 1000 acres

of bottomlands and upland prairie hills.

In 1982 Clint went to one of Allan Savory’s

courses. Within a year he returned with his

son-in-law, Tom, and his ranch manager,

Robby Tuggle, and all their wives.

Robby had experience working on

other ranches. When he came back

from the course he was excited about

the possibilities. “It just made sense to

me that on land that carries one animal

per 14 acres, if you can run one animal

per seven acres simply by changing

how you manage them, you just

bought yourself another ranch. You

spend money on fencing, but not near

the cost of another ranch.” In only a

few years they were able to more than

double their stocking rate, and their

monitoring shows no signs of

deteriorating land..

Clint actually bought several ranches after

attending the course, but later sold them, and

with that money he bought the 800-acre

Pittman in 1986 and had enough money left to

put in the additional fencing and water points

to maximize production. He ran the decision

through the testing guidelines and determined

that, given the size of the ranch, it would

make more money to put this infrastructure

in and get the ranch into full production

immediately.

Sharing the Learning

It is apparent as you listen to Clint and

Robby that these two men are enjoying the

collaborative process of running the L O

Ranch and working with their

consultant/advisor, long-time Savory Center

member, Bob Steger.

While Clint and Robby each have their

own personal/family holistic goal, the holistic

goal they discussed the day I visited them was

for the ranch itself. In particular, they talked

about how the ranch’s holistic goal has lead

them to develop the ranch as a Holistic

Management® learning site.

Clint notes that they’ve been thinking

about making that kind of commitment with

the ranch, but it wasn’t until they revised their

holistic goal, that they actually started taking

action toward making it happen. “We’re now

spending money on exclosures,” Clint says.

“We’ll also probably build a pavilion (for

classroom space), and we’re working with

North Central Texas College to come more

often.”

One of the reasons that Clint and Robby

Readying for a Rendezvo u s

by Pat Q. Richardson

Participate in the Rendezvous 2003 near Leo, Texas at

Clint Josey’s LO Ranch in a restored tall-grass prairie.

want to formalize the ranch as a learning

center is because neighbors have not been as

eager to learn with them as they had hoped.

“Our neighbors vary from totally indifferent to

hostile,” says Clint. “Our community beyond

the ranch boundaries is our grazing club, the

Red River Graziers. There are about 20

ranchers in it, and we’ve gotten pretty close.

They all have the same experience of being

considered the freaks in the neighborhood. We

like to get together with people who don’t feel

that way. We talk about mistakes more than

anything.”

The Landscape as Canvas

Like many ranchers, Clint and Robby are

particularly excited about the future resource

base landscape description and their efforts to

manage their whole toward that landscape. In

describing that landscape, Clint notes, “The

tallgrass prairie restored is one of our current

focuses. However, with 80 to 90 percent of


ARIZONA

Kitty Boice

P.O. Box 745, Sonoita, AZ 85637

520/907-5574; [email protected]

ARKANSAS

Preston Sullivan

P.O. Box 4483, Fayetteville, AR 72702

479/443-0609; 479/442-9824 (w)

[email protected]

CALIFORNIA

Monte Bell

325 Meadowood Dr., Orland, CA 95963


Julie Bohannon

652 Milo Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90042

323/257-1915

[email protected]

Bill Burrows

12250 Colyear Springs Rd.

Red Bluff, CA 96080


Jeff Goebel

P.O. Box 1252, Willows, CA 95988

530/321-9855; 530/934-4601 x101 (w)

[email protected]

Richard King

1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954

707/769-1490; 707/794-8692 (w)

[email protected]

Christopher Peck

P.O. Box 2286, Sebastopol, CA 95472

707/758-0171

[email protected]

COLORADO

Cindy Dvergsten

17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323

970/882-4222

[email protected]

Rio de la Vista

P.O. Box 777, Monte Vista, CO 81144


Daniela Howell

63066 Jordan Ct., Montrose, CO 81401

970/249-0353

[email protected]

Tim McGaffic

P.O. Box 476, Ignacio, CO 81137


Roland Kroos

4926 Itana Circle

Bozeman, MT 59715


◆ Cliff Montagne

Montana State University Department of Land

Resources & Environmental Science

Bozeman, MT 59717


NEW MEXICO

◆ Ann Adams

The Savory Center

1010 Tijeras NW

Albuquerque, NM 87102

505/842-5252

[email protected]

Amy Driggs

1131 Los Tomases NW


505/242-2787

[email protected]

Kirk Gadzia

P.O. Box 1100

Bernalillo, NM 87004

505/867-4685; fax: 505/867-0262

[email protected]

Ken Jacobson

12101 Menaul Blvd. NE, Ste AAlbuquerque, NM 87112505/[email protected]

◆ Kelly Pasztor

The Savory Center

1010 Tijeras NW,


505/842-5252

[email protected]

Sue Probart

P.O. Box 81827


505/265-4554

[email protected]

Vicki Turpen

03 El Nido Amado SW



Arne Vanderburg

P.O. Box 904

Cedar Crest, NM 87008

505/286-6133

[email protected]

NORTH CAROLINA

Sam Bingham

394 Vanderbilt Rd.

A s h eville, NC 28803

8 2 8 / 2 7 4 - 1 3 0 9

s b i n g h a m @ i g c . o r g

NORTH DAKOTA

◆ Wayne Berry

University of North Dakota—Williston

P.O. Box 1326

Williston, ND 58802

701/774-4269 or 701/774-4200

[email protected]

Chadwick McKellar

16775 Southwood Dr.

Colorado Springs, CO 80908


Chandler McLay

P.O. Box 262, Dolores, CO 81323

970/882-8802

[email protected]

Byron Shelton

33900 Surrey Lane, Buena Vista, CO 81211

719/395-8157

[email protected]

GEORGIA

Constance Neely

1160 Twelve Oaks Circle

Watkinsville, GA 30677

706/310-0678

[email protected]

IOWA

Bill Casey

1800 Grand Ave.

Keokuk, IA 52632-2944


KENTUCKY

Joel Benson

1180 Fords Mill Rd.

Versailles, KY 40383


LOUISIANA

Tina Pilione

P.O. 923, Eunice, LA 70535

phone/fax: 337/580-0068

[email protected]

MINNESOTA

Terri Goodfellow-Heyer

4660 Cottonwood Lane N

Plymouth, MN 55442

612/559-0099

[email protected]

Larry Johnson

RR 1, Box 93A, Winona, MN 55987-9738

507/457-9511; 507/523-2171 (w)

[email protected]

MONTANA

Wayne Burleson

RT 1, Box 2780

Absarokee, MT 59001


Certified Educators

UNITED STATES

◆ These Educators provide Holistic Management instruction on behalf of the institutions they represent.

To our knowledge, Certified Educators are the best qualified individuals to help others learn to

practice Holistic Management and to provide them with technical assistance when necessary. On a yearly

basis, Certified Educators renew their agreement to be affiliated with the Center. This agreement requires

their commitment to practice Holistic Management in their own lives, to seek out opportunities for

staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management and to maintain a high standard of

ethical conduct in their work.

For more information about or application forms for the U.S., Africa, or International Certified Educator

Training Programs, contact Kelly Pasztor at the Savory Center or visit our website at

www.holisticmanagement.org/wwo_certed.cfm?


OHIO

◆ Deborah Stinner

Department of Entomology OARDC

1680 Madison Hill

Wooster, OH 44691

330/202-3534 (w); [email protected]

OKLAHOMAKim Barker

RT 2, Box 67Waynoka, OK 73860580/824-9011; [email protected]

OREGONCindy Douglas

2795 McMillian St., Eugene, OR 97405541/465-4882; [email protected]

TEXAS

Christina Allday-Bondy

2703 Grennock Dr.Austin, TX 78745512/441-2019; [email protected]

Guy Glosson

6717 Hwy 380, Snyder, TX 79549806/237-2554; [email protected]

Lois Trevino

P.O. Box 615, Nespelem, WA 99155

509/634-4410; 509/634-2430 (w)

[email protected]

Doug Warnock

151 Cedar Cove Rd., Ellensburg, WA 98926

509/925-9127

warnockd@ elltel.net

WISCONSIN

Elizabeth Bird

Room 203 Hiram Smith Hall

1545 Obseratory Dr., Madison WI 53706

6 0 8 / 2 6 5 - 3 7 2 7

e a b i r d @ fa c s t a ff . w i s c . e d u

WYOMING

Miles Keogh

450 N. Adams Ave .

B u ffalo WY 82834


Tim Morrison

P.O. Box 536, Meeteese, WY 82433

307/868-2354; mcd@tctwe s t . n e t

◆ R.H. (Dick) Richardson

University of Texas at Austin

Department of Integrative Biology

Austin, TX 78712


Peggy Sechrist

25 Thunderbird Rd., Fredericksburg, TX 78624830/990-2529; [email protected]

WASHINGTON

Craig Madsen

P.O. Box 107, Edwall, WA 99008


Sandra Matheson

228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226


Don Nelson

Washington State University

P.O. Box 646310, Pullman, WA 99164


Maurice Robinette

S. 16102 Wolfe Rd., Cheney, WA 99004


I N T E R N AT I O N A L

AUSTRALIA

Helen Carrell

“Hillside” 25 Weewondilla Rd.Glennie Heights, Warwick, QLD 437061-4-1878-5285; 61-7-4661-7383 [email protected]

Steve Hailstone

5 Lampert Rd., Crafers, SA [email protected]

Graeme Hand

“Inverary”Caroona Lane; Branxholme, VIC 330261-3-5578-6272; [email protected]

Mark Gardner

P.O. Box 1395, Dubbo, NSW [email protected]

Brian Marshall

“Lucella”; Nundle, NSW 2340

61-2-6769 8226; fax: 61-2-6769 8223

[email protected]

Bruce Ward

P.O. Box 103, Milsons Pt., NSW 156561-2-9929-5568; fax: [email protected]

Brian Wehlburg

c/o “Sunnyholt”, Injue, QLD [email protected]

CANADA

Don and Randee Halladay

Box 2, Site 2, RR 1; Rocky Mountain House, AB T0M 1T0; 403/[email protected]

Noel McNaughton

5704-144 St., Edmondton, AB, T6H 4H4780/432-5492; [email protected]

Len Pigott

Box 222, Dysart, SK SOH 1HO 306/[email protected]

Kelly Sidoryk

Box 374, Lloydminster, AB, S9V 0Y4403/[email protected]

CHINA/GERMANY

Dieter Albrecht

2, Yuan Ming Yuan Xi LuBeijing 1009486-10-6289 [email protected] (international)

MEXICO

Ivan Aguirre

La InmaculadaApdo. Postal 304Hermosillo, Sonora 83000tel/fax: [email protected]

Elco Blanco-Madrid

Cristobal de Olid #307 Chihuahua Chih., 3124052-614-415-3497; fax: [email protected]

Manuel Casas-Perez

Calle Amarguva No. 61, Lomas HerraduraHuixquilucan, Mexico City CP 5278552-558-291-3934; 52-588-992-0220 (w)[email protected]

Jose Ramon “Moncho” Villar

Av. Las Americas #1178Fracc. CumbresSaltillo, Coahuila [email protected]

NAMIBIA

Gero Diekmann

P.O. Box 363, Okahandja [email protected]

Wiebke Volkmann

P.O. Box 182, Otavi, 067-23-44-48;[email protected]

NEW ZEALAND

John King

P.O. Box 3440, Richmond, [email protected]

SOUTH AFRICA

Johan Blom

P.O. Box 568, Graaf-Reinet [email protected]

Ian Mitchell-Innes

P.O. Box 52, Elandslaagte [email protected]

Norman Neave

Box 141, Mtubatuba [email protected]

Dick Richardson

P.O. Box 1806, Vryburg 8600tel/fax: 27-53-927-4367 [email protected]

ZIMBABWE

Mutizwa Mukute

PELUM Association Regional DeskP.O. Box MP 1059, Mount Pleasant, Harare263-4-74470/744117fax: [email protected]

Liberty Mabhena

Spring CabinetP.O. Box 853, Harare263-4-210021/2; 263-4-210577/8fax: 263-4-210273

Sister Maria Chiedza Mutasa

Bandolfi ConventP.O. Box 900, Masvingo263-39-7699, 263-39-7530

Elias Ncube

P. Bag 5950, Victoria [email protected]


CALIFORNIA

Holistic Management of California

Tom Walther, newsletter editor

5550 Griffin St.

Oakland, CA 94605

510/530-6410

[email protected]

COLORADO

Colorado Branch of the Center

For Holistic Management

Jim and Daniela Howell

newletter editors

1661 Sonoma Court,

Montrose, CO 81401

970/249-0353

[email protected]

GEORGIA

Constance Neely

1160 Twelve Oaks Circle

Watkinsville, GA 30677

706/310-0678

[email protected]

MONTANA

Beartooth Management Club

Wayne Burleson

RT 1, Box 2780, Absarokee, MT 59001


Local Netwo r k s There are several branch organizations or groups

affiliated with the Center in the U.S. and abroad (some publish their own

newsletters.) We encourage you to contact the group closest to you:

PENNSYLVANIA

Northern Penn Network

Jim Weaver, contact person

RD #6, Box 205

Wellsboro, PA 16901

717/724-7788

[email protected]

TEXAS

HRM of Texas

Peggy Jones, newsletter editor

101 Hill View Trail

Dripping Springs, TX 78620

512/858-4251

[email protected]

AUSTRALIA

Holistic Decision Making Association

(AUST+NZ)

Irene Dasey, Executive Officer

P.O. Box 543

Inverell NSW, 2360

tel: 61-2-6721-0123

[email protected]

CANADA

Canadian Holistic Management

Lee Pengilly

Box 216, Stirling, AB, T0K 2E0

403/327-9262

MEXICO

Fundación para Fomentar

el Manejo Holístico, A.C.

Jose Ramon Villar, President

Ave. Las Americas #1178

United States

International

NEW YORK

Regional Farm & Food ProjectTracy Frisch, contact person148 Central Ave., 2nd floorAlbany, NY 12206518/427-6537

USDA/NRCS - Central NY RC&D

Phil Metzger, contact person

99 North Broad St.

Norwich, NY 13815

607/334-3231, ext. 4

[email protected]

NORTHWEST

Managing WholesPeter Donovan

501 South St.

Enterprise, OR 97828-1345

541/426-2145

www.managingwholes.com

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma Land Stewardship AllianceCharles GriffithsRoute 5, Box E44, Ardmore, OK 73401580/[email protected]

Fracc. Cumbres Saltillo, Coahuila 25270

tel/fax: 52-844-415-1542

[email protected]

NAMIBIA

Namibia Centre for

Holistic Management

Anja Denker, contact person

P.O. Box 23600

Windhoek 9000

tel/fax: 264-61-230-515

[email protected]

SOUTH AFRICA

Community Dynamics

Judy Richardson

P.O. Box 1806

Vryburg 8600

tel/fax: 27-53-9274367

[email protected]

Come Visit Us!

We Offe r:

• Guided Bush Wa l ks

• H o rs e b a ck To u rs

• G a m e -Vi ewing Dri ve s

• A n t i - Po a ching Pa t rol Experi e n c e

• And much more !

In an unfo rget table setting with

comfy lodging, memorable meals

AT DIMBANGOMBE

Come Visit Us!AT DIMBANGOMBE

P ri va te Bag 5950 Ro ger Pa rry

Vi c to ria Fa l l s Email: ro g p a ch m @ a f ri c a o n l i n e . c o . z w

Z i m b a bwe Tel. (263)(11 ) 213 529

w w w. a f ri c a n s o j o u rn . c o m

Board of Trustees

Allan Savory, Chair

Ignatius Ncube, Vice Chair

Chief D. Shana II

Chief A. J. Mvutu

Chief B.W. Wange

Chief D. Nelukoba

Chief S.R. Nekatambe

Councilor Ndubiwa

Mary Ncube

Lot Ndlovu

Emeldah Nkomo

(Staff Representative)

Elias Ncube

(Staff Representative)

Osmond Mugweni - Masvingo

Hendrik O’Neill - Harare

Sam Brown, Austin, Texas,

ex-officio

Staff

Huggins Matanga, Director

Elias Ncube, Community

Programmes Manager

Emeldah Nkomo, Village

Banking Coordinator

Forgé Wilson,

Office Manager

Sylvia Nyakujawa, Bookkeeper

Dimbangombe Ranch and

Conservation Safaris:

Roger Parry, Manager

Trish Pullen,

Assistant Manager, Catering

Richard Nsinganu, Assistant

Manager, Safaris

Albert Chauke,

Ranch Foreman


(A subsidiary of the Allan Savory Center for

Holistic Management since 1992)

To order products inAustralia/New Zealand or southern Africa contact:

Australia: Holistic Decision Making Association, Irene Dasey, P.O. Box 543,

Inverell NSW 2360, tel: 61-2-6721-0123; [email protected]

South Africa: Whole Concepts cc, PO Box 1806, Vryburg 8600;

tel/fax: 27-53-9274367; [email protected]

#090, In Practice, July/Aug 2003

Documents

Transcript of #090, In Practice, July/Aug 2003