Tag: Conservation

This presentation will include the environmental focus of all aspects of the planning, design, construction, and operations of the golf course.  Key elements include conservation/protection of the land, utilization/incorporation of existing features on the property, minimal or reduced future inputs for maintenance, and environmental stewardship education for the guests. Mr. Merkel earned a Bachelor of […]

This seminar contrasts two approaches to maintaining prairies and suggests their goals and methods overlap extensively. We will need both approaches to meet the challenges our prairie landscapes face in future decades. The Center for Grassland Studies’ Fall Seminar Series features guest lecturers who speak on topics related to the Center’s mission: future challenges in […]

Ranchers on the tallgrass prairie traditionally burn their pastures each spring before summer grazing. After fire, plants grow more quickly, and the new growth is very nutritious. But the practice is problematic for migratory birds. It reduces nesting and feeding habitat just when they need it most. So, how can ranchers balance getting great forage […]

Cattle play a vital role out on the landscapes for grasslands. They mimic in many ways what historic bison used to do. That’s why we need cattle out on the landscape. Marshall Johnson Vice President Audubon Society The Audubon Society knows all about the important role livestock play in protecting grassland habitat for birds and […]

Here’s another in our series of “Everything old is new again.” This story by Homer A. Taff, former State Conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service, comes to us from the November 1, 1961 edition of  “Soil Conservation,” a publication of the Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service). The practices, which some might […]

When we talk about grazing management, we usually think about how to manage livestock, and we think of forage and the soil below it. But there’s one more factor to consider – people – and that’s the key to the success of Bill and Dana Milton. The Miltons raise Angus cattle on 15,000 acres of […]

Rickie Roddy knew he was going to be a rancher early on. To get started, he saved up his money, and bought his first cow at the age of 13. “My dreams are coming true,” he says. “A 13-year old, you have big dreams. But a 13-year-old getting a cow, that was a big step […]

This story was drawn from a piece by Ashley Spratt, a Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Ventura Field Office in Ventura, California. It was edited for content and length. See the full piece here. Amid the rolling grasslands and oak woodlands of Santa Clara and San Benito counties […]

This 8:27 video takes us on a cattle drive with Miles Anderson, a rancher south of Fir Mountain, Saskatchewan, Canada. On this day, he’s gathering and moving about 100 cow calf pairs onto the neighboring Grasslands National Park so they can graze and create habitat for the endangered sage grouse.   As we follow Miles […]

Greg Moore’s focus on restoring 25,000 acres of prairie grasslands and good habitat for wildlife has turned into more profit for his ranching operation, proving that ecological health and economic resilience go hand-in-hand