Ami Vitale
Ranching Rebooted
Autumn Jane Marquis buries her face into her horses mane at the Matador ranch in Eastern Montana. Ranching Rebooted. At Matador Ranch in Northeastern Montana, what's good for the prairie is good for its people too. Not far from the Canadian border, the volcanic uplift of the Little Rocky Mountains is visible across 100 miles of prairie. Now, spurred by growing consumer concern over meat's environmental impact and concerned about the long-term viability of their livelihood, a cohort of ranchers is trying to apply the understanding gleaned from the science of ecology to livestock management. The idea is called 'sustainable ranching' and it says to heal the land, put more animals on it, not fewer - but move them after a relatively brief interval. If livestock mimick the grazing behavior of wild herbivores - bunched together for safety, intensely grazing an area for a brief period, and then moving on - rangeland health will improve.
Nature Conservancy Magazine
