{"id":43284,"date":"2021-12-06T14:37:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T21:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-colorado-family-tried-to-save-their-cattle-ranch-by-betting-big-on-rare-birds-its-paying-off\/"},"modified":"2021-12-06T21:37:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T21:37:31","slug":"a-colorado-family-tried-to-save-their-cattle-ranch-by-betting-big-on-rare-birds-its-paying-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-colorado-family-tried-to-save-their-cattle-ranch-by-betting-big-on-rare-birds-its-paying-off\/","title":{"rendered":"A Colorado family tried to save their cattle ranch by betting big on rare birds. It\u2019s paying off."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The meandering Big Sandy Creek bisects the May Cattle Ranch near Lamar. Beaver dams along the waterway have helped create wetlands that draw a unique population of birds-from eagles to sparrows-to the area. (Mike Sweeney\/Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Mike Sweeney\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

LAMAR \u2014 The day that Dallas May started to feel his family ranch\u2019s fortunes solidify, after more than 40 years of raising cattle, was the day he got in his pickup to chase what appeared to be two poachers carrying weapons the size of rocket launchers.<\/p>\n

It turned out they were international bird experts from Cornell University\u2019s famed ornithology lab, cradling enormous spotting scopes and hoping to see the elusive black rail.<\/p>\n

Word was out that while rising seas and hurricanes ravage the birds\u2019 East Coast habitat, the threatened species was cooling it in marshes and ponds that break up 15,000 acres of May Ranch\u2019s dryland operation. People were apparently willing to journey to a dusty corner of Colorado to pay homage to his eco-friendly land management that avoids plowing and employs animals as recycling ruminants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not trespassing, but we were close,\u201d laughed Andrew Farnsworth, senior research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.<\/p>\n

May, 63, can\u2019t always see a solvent future for the sprawling, drought-exposed, multi-generational ranch in the Lower Arkansas Valley. Maybe that\u2019s OK \u2014 you rarely actually see the black rail, either. The most experienced birders check the black rail box on their life lists simply by hearing the birds\u2019 distinctive chitter call.<\/p>\n

But if the Mays can piece together all the available evidence that their environmentally progressive property has value, he and his family can sleep at night. It\u2019s an emerging way of ranching and farming, one that recognizes preservation of habitat amid global climate change can bring income and survival.<\/p>\n

The Mays run a biology lab as much as they run a ranch.<\/p>\n

The black rails, and discoveries of other vulnerable species like lesser prairie chickens, helped persuade the Audubon Society to make May Ranch a certified bird-friendly ranch with instant name recognition. Saying no to leases for solar arrays or electricity windmills helped them win a valuable conservation easement. Ducks Unlimited paid them carbon sequestration credits for letting prairie grasses grow. When they agreed to host reintroduction of endangered black-footed ferrets, agencies offered money to help monitor their progress, though the Mays didn\u2019t take it.<\/p>\n

The Mays still sell purebred, grass-fed Limousin cattle, all 800 animals descended from one young heifer Dallas May\u2019s grandfather gave to him when he was 13. But their ranching life is a thoroughly modern mix of environmentalism, opportunism and hustle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different philosophy,\u201d May said in late November, standing at his machinery shop, near cages holding 15 priceless, endangered ferrets. The ferrets would eat the prairie dogs, making room for the burrowing owls that need prairie dog holes, drawing hawks and eagles, attracting more birders, who might buy a steak from an Audubon-certified ranch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe operate our ranch in a totally natural way,\u201d May said. \u201cWe do our best. We\u2019re an island of grass in a sea of developed farmland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dallas
Dallas May with grandchildren at a gathering before endangered black-footed ferrets were released on the family ranch near Lamar on Nov. 17. (Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Making the model come to life<\/div>\n

Paul Evangelista is a Colorado State University research scientist in natural resources ecology, and an expert on modern natural ranching. He doesn\u2019t know May Ranch.<\/p>\n

We asked him what an environmentally friendly ranch would look like.<\/p>\n

Evangelista described May Ranch, right down to the prairie dog dens.<\/p>\n

When he heard the Mays were selling carbon credits for keeping the grass long and the soil intact, Evangelista muttered approving noises over the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t talking about carbon sequestration 10 years ago, but we\u2019re talking about it now,\u201d Evangelista said. \u201cNot only because there is a potential economic gain from it, but it\u2019s an important piece in maintaining the entire ecosystem. So we have this really wonderful shift in the thinking of some ranchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others have acknowledged the Mays\u2019 work. The ranch won a 2021 Leopold Award, named after \u201cSand County Almanac\u201d author and naturalist Aldo Leopold, given to those \u201cwho inspire others with their voluntary conservation efforts on private, working lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Leopold citation praised the ranch for improving wildlife habitat, soil conditions and water quality. Denver Botanic Gardens researchers came to the ranch and \u201cidentified more than 90 plant species never documented in Prowers County,\u201d according to the citation from the Sand County Foundation.<\/p>\n

The transformation of the Mays\u2019 ranching and farming property, starting a few miles north of Lamar and cut by Big Sandy Creek as it drains toward the Arkansas, began in earnest in about 2012. That\u2019s when the Mays, who had leased property for their high quality Limousin beef for decades, bought the place.<\/p>\n

So, on top of every other ranching and farming challenge: a big mortgage, rather than inherited land. To keep Dallas\u2019 favorite meadowlarks singing from the fence posts, he and his wife, Brenda, needed maximum profits.<\/p>\n

Grass-fed beef, instead of cattle sent to an industrial-size feedlot to fatten on corn, could fetch a premium from buyers. The ranch conserved precious water by switching from flood irrigation for alfalfa and hay to more efficient drip irrigation.<\/p>\n

But with the ranch also needing to support the next generation taking over, three May children and their growing brood of grandchildren, the Mays stretched their marketing and income sources to the fences:<\/p>\n

Dallas learned Audubon, the biggest name in a field that counts 18 million \u201cactive\u201d American birders, had a ranch certification program. He invited Audubon Rockies to the property, and biologist and executive director Alison Holloran drove down from Fort Collins. She walked the short grass prairie and stopped by the ponds. Discovering the heard-but-not-seen black rails astonished Holloran.<\/p>\n

By her own account, Holloran\u2019s visit to May ranch was a \u201cpoop my pants\u201d moment. \u201cOh my goodness,\u201d she recalls thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you, you\u2019ve got more secretive marsh birds on this ranch than anybody can imagine,\u201d Holloran told May. The ranch was quickly added to the certification program, and later designated one of Audubon\u2019s international Important Bird Areas. May Ranch doesn\u2019t sell directly to the public, but buyers can resell the beef at a premium. Some Colorado restaurants feature beef from Audubon-certified Colorado ranches named on the menu.<\/p>\n

\"A
A great horned owl stands atop a post at the May Ranch near Lamar. Wetlands on the ranch provide outstanding habitat for a variety of birds.(Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Mike Sweeney\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Natural foods grocers will pay more for beef certified as GAP \u2014 rated by Global Animal Partnership for features like grass-fed, and avoiding use of antibiotics or hormones. The Mays could reach GAP level 4, but decided to shoot for level 5: No physical alterations of the cattle.<\/p>\n

The Mays\u2019 800-odd Limousin never leave the ranch until slaughter, instead of being finished at a feedlot. They are not branded or castrated, and calves are weaned naturally.<\/p>\n

The conservation easement was a major boon. Conservation groups pay ranchers for easements if the owner gives up development rights and agrees to keep the land as open space.<\/p>\n

May learned that to be legal, easements must be based on foregoing real, assessable value. Wildlife habitat, as attractive as it is to some, does not count. A developer would not pay extra for that. But the May Ranch adjoins a power substation, and is blasted by the hot sun and the same prairie gusts that power windmill farms across southeastern Colorado. He\u2019s fielded dozens of offers to lease his land for solar arrays or windmills, whose power could be cheaply plugged into the grid through the substation.<\/p>\n

The Conservation Fund, backed by the Nature Conservancy and others, was willing to pay to make sure that never happened.<\/p>\n

Dusty Downey is a Wyoming rancher in sight of Devil\u2019s Tower, a naturalist, and the conservation ranching program lead for Audubon Rockies. He was involved in certifying May Ranch for its Audubon endorsement. The pressures on family ranches to sell to tract home developers, or shopping malls, or to plow land for cash crops fence line to fence line, are relentless, Downey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are all thinking, \u2018If we can\u2019t make it, we\u2019re going to start subdividing and selling off to be a Walmart parking lot,\u2019 \u201d Downey said. \u201cAnd that doesn\u2019t do wildlife and birds any good at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for good vibes from good stewardship<\/div>\n

May, who is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioner, is certain that the tough, counter-historical management decisions the ranch has made come with their own karma.<\/p>\n

Leaving the prairie dog colonies alone, for example, made May Ranch a prime prospect for the endangered black-footed ferret. Most ranchers and farmers are at constant war with coyotes. The May Ranch has never shot, trapped, poisoned or otherwise killed a coyote, May said, unless it was inadvertently hit by a car late at night.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in 45 years, as tens of thousands of calves have been born on this ranch, I can honestly say we\u2019ve never lost a calf to predation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After discovering the black rails, birders from Audubon, Cornell and other conservation groups visited the ranch often enough to find \u2014 hear \u2014 the shy birds at marsh edges every month. That meant they were nesting and breeding instead of migrating, and adding back to a species population has fallen an estimated 75% across the nation.<\/p>\n

The conservation groups brought resources, so that the Mays could build underwater structures imitating beaver dams to slow water flow and back up more marshes, to support more birds.<\/p>\n

\"American
American tree sparrows and red-winged blackbirds take refuge from a nearby owl in a tree at the May Ranch near Lamar. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Mike Sweeney\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Karma, however, frequently rides in on the tail end of a dust storm of irritations. Farmers have always complained they have self-appointed partners in the form of bankers. Now eco-friendly ranchers have teams of third-party auditors. The water quality folks, the easement assessors, the carbon sheriff \u2014 it\u2019s not just the birders who knock on May\u2019s door asking for the keys to his cattle gates.<\/p>\n

Seeking the sanction of outsiders is now a necessary part of environmental ranching, said Downey, of Audubon Rockies. Donors and consumers want to know that certifications and awards are based on observation and science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to hold ourselves to the highest standard possible when it comes to Audubon for our conservation minded membership,\u201d Downey said. What\u2019s new to ranchers is also new to exacting environmental activists.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years ago, the marriage between conservation and the ranching community \u2026 that was a tough conversation to have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Having walked his pastures for nearly half a century, and now passing the ranch on to his children and their cowboy-hatted grandchildren, May is used to playing the long game.<\/p>\n

The heifer from his grandfather, that would become the genetic matriarch of every Limousin now grazing his property, was born in 1971. He and his brother, Bon, spent decades perfecting the breed and learning artificial insemination until their Limousin, historically adapted to dryland grazing, were pure.<\/p>\n

Looking across his pastures that tilt south toward the Arkansas and the low-angle December sun, May, though, is thinking back to 1871, and before \u2014 before fences, before settlers riding burgeoning railroad systems wiped out most wildlife \u2014 to when bison walked the same land. Their hooves broke the hard soil and planted seeds; their grazing and defecating spread and fertilized grasses.<\/p>\n

Regenerative grazing with cattle, if handled right, can help bring back that original prairie ecology, May said. Though definitions vary, regenerative grazing can include moving animals so they stomp weeds and fertilize in new areas, encouraging native grasses, and avoiding tillage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extent and maintenance of prairies is dependent on disturbance, and that disturbance being fire or grazing, primarily,\u201d said John Carlson, a grassland conservation coordinator in the West resources specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. \u201cCattle on the landscape mimic pretty well what bison historically did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts, emphasizing the \u201cif handled right,\u201d agree. Running fewer cattle, but of a pure breed with a higher payoff; rotating pastures; avoiding pesticides; all are part of the term regenerative grazing that \u201cjust popped out of nowhere in the last couple of years,\u201d Evangelista said.<\/p>\n

He sees it working, he said, from high mountain pastures, to the San Luis Valley, to the southern plains bisected by the Arkansas. And working better, sometimes, than the stewardship of land officially set aside to protect the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m looking at biodiversity in Colorado, our hotspots in biodiversity today are on private lands,\u201d Evangelista said. \u201cThey\u2019re no longer in the public lands, in part because our public lands are getting overrun by users.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audubon wants to be part of easing the demonization of big ranches as beef factories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people realize that if we don\u2019t have these large-scale ranches like we do, once it becomes a Bed, Bath and Beyond parking lot, there\u2019s no turning back,\u201d Holloran said.<\/p>\n

\"An
An American tree sparrow clings to withered sunflowers at the May Ranch near Lamar. Many farms plow under all plants and weeds, reducing potential wildlife habitat. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Mike Sweeney\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The changes in attitude influenced a big move by CSU this summer. Previously, Evangelista said, the university\u2019s agricultural college taught ranch management. As of July, students can get a master\u2019s degree from the new Western Ranch Management and Ecosystem Stewardship program.<\/p>\n

The idea is to ground future generations of ranchers in a \u201cbasic ecological understanding of the land,\u201d said Evangelista, who helped design the degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do actually think ranching may be more of a solution to the problem than the general public has made it out to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Riley May, Dallas\u2019 and Brenda\u2019s son and a force behind the carbon sequestration agreement, gets to hear the piercing black rail calls every time he parks his truck at the end of the day near his family\u2019s home close to the Arkansas River bottoms.<\/p>\n

Cornell\u2019s Farnsworth, not trespassing at the ranch back in 2016 but scouting for a national \u201cbig day\u201d of species identification when the Mays showed him the black rails, said the family\u2019s deep enthusiasm for what their land can offer is apparent the moment they start talking.<\/p>\n

Dallas, Farnsworth said, is a role model for how farmers and ranchers should think about wildlife and habitat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of a kind of anachronistic thinking,\u201d Farnsworth said. \u201cMy land is important \u2014 I want to use it in ways that I can survive, but also do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/div>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

getting the folks at Audubon to certify the ranch as bird-friendly, to selling carbon sequestration credits for the tall grass, the May Ranch near Lamar is modernizing stewardship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,1030,28,29,1263],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-environment","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-ranching"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43284"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}