Betting on the Ranch:
Saving Wetlands and a Way of Life on the Plains
It's 26 miles to town, and the chores never end. But for ranchers Shane and Kristi Daniels and their four daughters, the Horse Creek Fen Ranch, deep in the Nebraska Sandhills, is home—and a dream come true. "It took a miracle to get us started," Shane says, "but this is where we'll be when we're old and gray."
The miracle in this case is The Nature Conservancy's Beginning Rancher Program, prompted by the organization's 1997 purchase of the 3,240-acre ranch, including 20-some critical downstream acres of Horse Creek Fen. Set like a jewel in the wind-carved and semiarid Sandhills, the fen holds deep peat soils that nourish a mix of moisture-loving plants, small fish and the globally imperiled Blanding's turtle.
"All we really needed to do was protect that fen," says Jim Luchsinger, the Conservancy's project director for the region. A conservation easement (a voluntary protection agreement) was established for the wetland, but something else in the region needed protection: family ranches. Such ranches have been disappearing as young people leave and the land is consolidated into huge operations.
"The reason this land is in good condition is because ranchers have given it such good stewardship," says Luch-singer. "We want to see that continue."
He adds: "Conservation and agriculture can and should work together."
The desire to foster that cooperation prompted talks with the Sandhills Task Force, a nonprofit conservation and ranching group, and the talks led to the Beginning Rancher Program. The groups looked for a ranching family that was willing to trade a lot of sweat equity for the chance to own the Horse Creek Fen Ranch.
The Daniels, who have family roots in ranching, were chosen from five applicants. During a five-year lease agreement, the couple has the option to buy the ranch at its 2005 appraised value, minus the price of the easement (which the Conservancy retains).
The couple, who are building a herd of cattle, say they want to set the standard that demonstrates how well the Beginning Rancher Program can work, as the Conservancy looks to replicate the model with other ranching families. Says Shane, "We're going to set the bar high."
Running the Numbers on Conservation Easements:
- Total acres protected by U.S. land trusts in 1988 using conservation easements: 290,000
- Total in 2003: 5,000,000
- Total number of conservation easements in 1998: 7,392
- Total in 2003: 17,847
- U.S. easements owned by The Nature Conservancy in 2005: More than 2,100
- Total acreage: More than 2,700,000
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Comments: 7
For more great features, check out the new summer 2006 edition of Nature Conservancy magazine.
You continue your push to let us know how many positive environmental things are happening in the world and it's very heartening. I have got to get myself more involved with the Nature Conservancy. Thanks!
Our weekly Nature Stories podcast is founded on the idea that hope can be found where people and place come together. Check it out; each new episode is also posted in The Nature Conservancy (TNC) group here on gather.