From 12 Cattle to 14,000 Acres: New Mexico Leopold Award Winners grew with passion and care
Carlos and Nelia Armendariz built their New Mexico ranching operation from a small grazing lease into a 14,000-acre enterprise, pairing changes in grazing management with investments in water infrastructure, rangeland
On the Ground at J Lazy S: Seeing Virtual Fencing in Action
CARMEN, Idaho — On October 2, landowners, ranchers, agency and nonprofit partners, and community members gathered at J Lazy S Angus Ranch in Carmen, Idaho, to see how the Smith
The West’s new Hotshot Crew? Cows called in to Contain wildfire
When fire commanders try to figure out how to contain a major wildfire, the last thing you might expect them to deploy is a herd of beef cattle. But on
How can landowners and researchers learn from each other? Just ask Erik
MELROSE, MT— Kalsta Ranch averages seven inches of rain per year. Erik Kalsta, the director of Western Landowners Alliance’s Working Wild Challenge program, will tell you to take that number
Forests Need Fire, but Forestry Makes It Work
In the past decades, more and more people have built or bought homes in the Wildland Urban Interface, or WUI. The draws are obvious: beauty, isolation, quiet, and closeness to
How beavers and acequieros can work together
MORA COUNTY, NM - In a landscape where burn scars deliver flash floods and drought impedes production capacity, water is a primary concern for many northern New Mexican landowners. Those
The U.S. has pastoralists. We usually call them ranchers.
There’s a pastoralist proverb that says: If you’re lost in the desert and find a sheep, you’ll be home soon. But if you find a camel, you’re in trouble. If camels and pastoralists sound a bit distant, the
Re-restoring the Animas after a post-fire flood
When erosion-control solutions designed and funded by the NRCS washed away in a flood, Dave Koeberle stepped in with $60,000 of his own money to rebuild and improve the structure. In
The Idahoans Who Care for Rangelands: Celebrating the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists
This year, that reality is being recognized on a broader stage. Idaho has joined more than 100 countries and 400 organizations in recognizing the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists,
Pondering Artificial Beaver Dams
Among the nine young adults who showed up to work on the author's place was Regan Ware, shown here plotting out locations for beaver dam analogues in the creekbed. MCC crew
Stream Restoration on the Knight Ranch to Improve San Juan Cutthroat Trout Habitat
The article and photographs below were created by Ed MacKerrow between August and October of 2025. Ed tragically passed away shortly afterward. It has been lightly edited to update the
Cade Rensink: Fire is an investment in healthy prairie
Marty Robbins’s “Prairie Fire,” a rollicking, anxious country ballad, describes the fear these huge blazes struck into the hearts of cowboys: fires so big they went from horizon to horizon.