Ranching West of the 100th Meridian
Culture, Ecology, and Economics
Recommended by The Nature Conservancy magazine.
Ranching West of the 100th Meridian offers a literary and thought-provoking look at ranching and its role in the changing West. The book's lyrical and deeply felt narratives, combined with fresh information and analysis, offer a poignant and enlightening consideration of ranchers' ecological commitments to the land, their cultural commitments to American society, and the economic role ranching plays in sustainable food production and the protection of biodiversity.
The book begins with writings that bring to life the culture of ranching, including the fading reality of families living and working together on their land generation after generation. The middle section offers an understanding of the ecology of ranching, from issues of overgrazing and watershed damage to the concept that grazing animals can actually help restore degraded land. The final section addresses the economics of ranching in the face of declining commodity prices and rising land values brought by the increasing suburbanization of the West. Among the contributors are Paul Starrs, Linda Hasselstrom, Bob Budd, Drummond Hadley, Mark Brunson, Wayne Elmore, Allan Savory, Luther Propst, and Bill Weeks.
Livestock ranching in the West has been attacked from all sides -- by environmentalists who see cattle as a scourge upon the land, by fiscal conservatives who consider the leasing of grazing rights to be a massive federal handout program, and by developers who covet intact ranches for subdivisions and shopping centers. The authors acknowledge that, if done wrong, ranching clearly has the capacity to hurt the land. But if done right, it has the power to restore ecological integrity to Western lands that have been too-long neglected. Ranching West of the 100th Meridian makes a unique and impassioned contribution to the ongoing debate on the future of the New West.
Acknowledgments
PART I. Introduction
-Rafael Quijada, Sierra Madre, Sonora, Mexico
-Drummond Hadley (Drawing by Andrew Rush)
Chapter 1. Ranching: An Old Way of Life in the New West \ Paul F. Starrs
Chapter 2. Lay of the Land: Ranch Land and Ranching \ Martha J. Sullins, David T. Theobald, Jeff R. Jones, and Leah M. Burgess
PART II. The Culture of Ranching
-Alma de mi Alma
-Drummond Hadley (Photograph by Charles J. Belden)
Chapter 3. Colors and Words \ Bob Budd
Chapter 4. No Place Like Home \ Linda M. Hasselstrom
Chapter 5. An Intimate Look at the Heart of the Radical Center \ Page Lambert
Chapter 6. End of the Trail: Ranching Transformation on the Pacific Slope \ Lynn Huntsinger
Chapter 7. Perceptions of Ranching: Public Views, Personal Reflections \ Mark Brunson and George Wallace
PART III. The Ecology of Ranching
-The Work
-Drummond Hadley (Photograph by Charles J. Belden)
Chapter 8. Shades of Gray \ Bob Budd
Chapter 9. The Ecology of Ranching \ Richard L. Knight
Chapter 10. Cows and Creeks: Can They Get Along? \ Steve Leonard and Wayne Elmore
Chapter 11. Re-Creating the West...One Decision at a Time \ Allan Savory
PART IV. The Economics of Ranching Our Land in the Belly of the Beast \ Drummond Hadley (Photograph by Charles J. Belden)
Chapter 12. Blue Birds and Black Cows \ Bob Budd
Chapter 13. Making a Living in the Age of Wal-Mart \ Tom Field
Chapter 14. Ecomonic Survival of Western Ranching: Searching for Answers \ Larry D. Butler
Chapter 15. Saving the Family Ranch: New Directions \ Ben Alexander and Luther Propst
Chapter 16. Cloudy Sky over the Range: Whose Home and Why it Matters \ W. William Weeks
PART V. Epilogue
-Going to Buy Heifers: The Death of Jesse Parker
-Drummond Hadley (Photographed by Charles J. Belden)
Chapter 17. Why This Book Matters \ Ed Marston
List of Contributors
Index
