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Watershed Restoration Through Integrated
Resource Management on Public and
Private Rangelands
Sid Goodloe
Abstract-Until recently much of the rangeland in the Western
United States was in a serious downward trend. Water quality and
quantity was declining as the result of the continuous livestock
grazing practices employed at the turn of the century followed by
80 years of fire suppression. Thirty-five years ofintegratedlholistic
resource management at the Carrizo Valley Ranch has reversed
this trend. In addition to restoration of rangeland productivity,
the riparian area on the ranch has been restored, wildlife populations enhanced, and perennial streamflow restored. The practical
experience gained at the ranch should be useful to private landowners, public land managers, and water quality agencies throughout the brittle ecosystems of the Southwestern United States.
Some ofthe techniques perfected at Carrizo Valley Ranch are being
demonstrated on an adjacent watershed in the Smokey Bear
Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest.
The shortgrass rangelands found in the Western United
States are generally harsh ecosystems. Careful management of these areas is essential if they are to maintain
sustained prod uction or recover from past land management mistakes (Stoddart and others 1975). Many watersheds in the West contribute massive loads of sediment
washed from the land surface or scoured from eroding
gullies and streambanks to the streams and rivers that
drain them. The New Mexico Environment Department
reports that 95 percent of the State's surface water is
impacted by nonpoint source' pollution (NMED 1990) and
that turbidity is one of the major causes of use impairment
in these waters (NMED 1988). Reports by early surveyors,
naturalists, and trappers detail the abundance of grass
and clear clean water found on these same watersheds
(Leopold 1933/1991), a sharp contrast to the conditions
seen today.
Many factors have contributed to the drastil' changes
that can be seen in the rangeland watersheds of the Western
United States, but most range management professionals
agree that the heavy stocking rates and the continuous
grazing practiced by stockmen at the end of the 1800's
followed by increasingly efficient fire suppression are the
leading causes of these changes. H. 1. Bently and E. O.
Wooten, early agricultural agents in Texas and New Mexico,
In: Monsen, Stephen B.; Stevens, Richard, comps. 1999. Proceedings:
ecology and management of pinyon-juniper communities within the Interior
West; 1997 September 15-18; Provo, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-9. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station.
Sid Goodloe is Owner/Operator, Carrizo Valley Ranch, Box 598, Capitan,
NM 88316.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-9. 1999
described the situation: "In a short time every acre of grass
was stocked beyond its fullest capacity .... The grasses were
entirely consumed; their very roots were trampled into the
dust and destroyed" (Bently 1898). "The stockman could not
protect the range from himself, because any improvement of
his range was only an inducement for someone else to bring
stock in upon it; so he put the extra stock on himself"
(Wooten 1908). As a result, native grasses were replaced by
sagebrush, mesquite, juniper, and other invading brush
species that were less suited for holding soil in place
(Chaney and others 1990) and that were more efficient at
water extraction (Stoddart and others 1975). Topsoil, which
requires thousands of years to develop in harsh ecosystems
(Brady 1974), washed away; gullies formed from unchecked,
concentrated runoff; streambanks eroded and downcut;
water tables lowered; and perennial streams became intermittent or dry (Chaney and others 1990; Platts 1990).
The ability of the land to recover from these effects has
been greatly reduced because the entire ecosystem had been
so radically altered. The harshness of the environment
contributes to the difficulty in reestablishing the climax or
the highest ecological condition of the range. As a result,
simple manipulation of a single range management factor,
such as reducing livestock numbers, is not sufficient to
result in significant environmental improvement (DeBano
and Schmidt 1989). These systems will take many years to
recover by themselves. Direct actions aimed at total watershed rehabilitation and applied in a holistic and integrated
system are necessary to ensure the restoration of Western
watersheds and associated natural resources of water, timber, grass, wildlife, and fisheries (Platts 1990). This type of
integrated or holistic resource management has been successfully demonstrated on the Carrizo Valley Ranch.
Integrated Resource Management
on Private Lands ------------------------There are many definitions of IntegratedIHolistic Resource Management (IRM), but I like to define it as the
integration of all components, economic, human and environmental into a synergistic, comprehensive plan that allows management for long-term sustainability rather than
short-term production. This type of management is essential for protecting valuable natural resources found in our
Western watersheds and is also an essential management
tool for protecting the entire planet. Considering the unlimited supply of examples of bad natural resource management in every U.S. State and in every country in the world,
it is clear that we are now charged with the responsibility of
not only managing the resources under our jurisdiction in
307
an integrated manner, but we must also inform politicians
and populations everywhere that we are no longer in the
pioneering/unplanned development mode. We have reached
the point that resource interrelationships must be recognized and development planned accordingly. Pressing
needs of growing populations must be met but not at the
expense of the ecosystems's ustainabili ty.
Initial Actions _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
My ranch is in the South Central Mountains of New
Mexico at about 7,000 ft elevation. Average annual precipitation is about 46 cm (18 inches), halfofwhich falls as snow.
The soils range from gravelly hillsides to clay and clay loam
bottoms. Watercourses on the ranch were actively eroded
and brush infestation flourishing when I purchased the
property. My most demanding problem was the homogeneous vegetative composition and low herbage production.
The major grass found was an almost pure, tightly packed
turf of blue grama that grew very little because of its sodbound condition. A major portion of the ranch had scattered
to thick stands of pinyon-juniper that were even-aged populations. Areas between the trees as well as directly under
the canopy were bare and subject to erosion.
I began to study the origination of this eroded, brushinfested condition. I realized that year-long grazing and
brush infestation were severely limiting herbage production. My initial strategies were (1) to divide the ranch into
summer and winter pastures so I could at least reserve some
winter grazing and (2) to begin a systematic brush control
program. Although these changes were beneficial, it was not
until I spent time in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1964 that I
experienced firsthand and began to understand the principles of Short Duration Grazing in action, and the dynamics of an open savanna ecosystem. I recorded my
findings in a paper published in the November 1969 issue
of the Journal of Range Management, returned to my
ranch, and after some very low budget fencing, put these
principles into practice.
.
Rotational Grazing System
I divided large paddocks into much smaller ones using
posts cut on the ranch to support a three-wire suspension
fence. Paddock division was planned according to topography, existing fences, and available water, not in the wagon
wheel or grazing cell pattern often advocated. Once the
rotation had become established, the cattle practically
moved themselves, anticipating paddock changes. I found
that graze and rest periods could be adjusted to fit the
current precipitation and season of use. I also found that as
the vegetative growth rate increases, so should the frequency of rotation and that rotation during the dormant
season was not necessary. My initial goal now became "to
produce the maximum pounds of marketable beef per hectare while improving range condition." This naive but commendable goal was economically impractical in a period of
low beef prices, so I needed to find other profitable uses of
available resources.
308
Additional Income Source
Fee hunting of deer and turkey became a significant
income producer immediately after I built a cabin to facilitate game harvest. As a result, improved wildlife habitat
and overall aesthetic quality became my secondary goal.
Return to Climax Condition as the
Primary Goal
The pieces of the puzzle then began to fall into
place. I realized that if fish and beaver appeared on the
600 year old Indian Petroglyphs on my place, there certainly must have been running streams w here I now found
only arroyos with steep banks and dry rocky bottoms. I
researched 100 year old surveyors notes that described the
terrain as an open savanna rather than an almost solid
canopy of invading brush species. I realized that the invading brush, made possible by year-long grazing and 80 years
of total fire suppression, was not only removing most of
the moisture from the soil, but was also shutting down
herbage growth, thereby causing sheet and gully erosion. I
recognized that although I had previously discounted a
return to climax or near climax condition, I might be able to
make economic sense out of that approach if it became my
primary goal. I visualized the open savanna as it was over
100 years ago, with mixed conifers on the north slopes and
the highly productive riparian areas that made up the
mosaic of the Carrizo Valley.
Brush Management and Watershed
Stabilization _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
I then began to implement a cautious return to climax in
a manner that was economically justifiable in my situation.
Mechanical removal of invading pinyon-juniper in an area
that requires 10 to 15 ha per animal unit could not be
justified because costs were higher than land values. However, some mechanical brush control in the better soil types
was required as was erosion control (that is, reseeding,
pushing invading brush into active gullies, and building
water retention dams). It was necessary to finance this
using other available resources.
Selective thinning of young invaders, followed by prescribed burning and reseeding with native grass species,
became the major thrust of the plan to return to a climax
ecosystem. The by-products: fence posts, fuel wood, vigas,
trees for landscaping, and Christmas trees financed the
plan. Another beneficial by-product was the increase in
mule deer population, not only because of habitat improvement, but because ponderosa pine vigas must be cut and
peeled during the win ter months. This provided an adequate
supply of green browse (tree tops) throughout the winter,
resulting in a significant (30 to 50 percent) increase in
the fawn crop. The open savanna created contained 500 to
800 year old juniper trees, scattered ponderosa pines, and is
carpeted with a mix of warm and cool season grasses and
forbs. I have found that because deer and turkey evolved
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-9. 1999
under this type of ecosystem, they seem to prefer it to the
contiguous brush-infested public land. This is what I call
an "eco-recreation benefit." These factors sharply increased
income from hunting and paid for more of the necessary
mechanical rehabilitation work.
Role of Fire
The long sought-after open savanna is now well established in the Carrizo Valley, but it must be maintained
with periodic fire as it was in the climax. Tree ring research
in New Mexico indicates that most forest areas burned, on
the average, at 7 to 10 year intervals (Stoddart and others
1975) before fire suppression began. The key to the successful maintenance burn is the fuel load (as well as the climatic
conditions of course). There must- be enough herbaceous
material to carry a fire that is hot enough to kill brush but
cool enough not to damage the beneficial species. The
damaging fires in Yellowstone a few years ago demonstrated that the no-burn policy, which originated in the
ecologically different European forests, was an incorrect
choice for Western watersheds. Now after many years of
fire suppression, similar fuel loading is evident throughout
the Western United States and has made the initial prescribed burn risky.
Livestock Suited to Their
Environment
The pivotal economic component of my operation is the
production of weaner calves, both for breeding and beef.
Low-input, sustained production is my goal and is achieved
by using an animal that is fine-tuned to the environment
and produces a desirable, marketable product. The hostile
factors in our environment are snow, cold, wind, and dry
weather. A cow that can produce under these conditions
must be, first of all, fertile in t~lat environment. She should
be black so that wind and snow will not cause or aggravate
pink eye and cancer eye. Black, of course, absorbs as much
sparse winter sunlight as is possible and black udders do not
blister in spring snowstorms. The animal that fulfills all
these requirements is a composite breed that I have developed through 20 years of selective breeding, called the
Alpine Black-three-quarters Angus and one-quarter beeftype Brown Swiss. Just as the Zebu composites fit the Gulf
Coast and southern deserts, the Alpine Black fits the western mountains of Northern America.
Tangible Benefits _ _ _ _ _ __
The road back to climax has revealed many changes in 30
years. Water sources that were dry now have permanent
running water and lush riparian areas. Grass production
has increased dramatically and provided more carrying
capacity. Alpine Black cattle are in sync with their environment and their habitat has improved as well. Recreation
potential is greatly enhanced due to a more pleasing aesthetic atmosphere and larger wildlife population.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-9. 1999
Applicability of Study Results to
Western Watersheds -------------------The pinyon-juniper complex comprises more than 63 million acres ofthe rangeland in the Southwest. This ecotype is
a critical component of the arid region. Pinyon and juniper
generally form the intermediary boundary between the
flatter grassland type climax community found on the
lower slopes and the conifer forest climax community of the
mountain tops. Considerable debate regarding the density
of the pinyon-juniper canopy in climax conditions has hindered some watershed restoration efforts. Most range
conservationists agree, however, that much of the pinyonjuniper found on the lower slopes has escaped its original
range and modified some of the original savanna type
ecosystem to a more woodland type. Originally the pinyonjuniper occupied a discrete ecotone in many watersheds,
but lack of fire and overuse by livestock have left these
once stable areas in poor condition. Many, however, have a
high potential for range improvement and revegetation. In
areas where the pinyon-juniper complex is in especially poor
condition, range improvement can substantially reduce the
erosion and sedimentation originating from these degraded
areas (Stoddart and others 1975). Some ofthe most informed
members of the environmental community support restoration of Western watersheds but question the removal of
pinyon and juniper vegetation from those areas where the
species are in the climax community. As opposed to brush
removal and range reseeding on areas historically known or
reasoned to be grassland, brush removal on certain areas
can have the potential to increase sedimentation and erosion rather than decrease it. Information gained from the
Carrizo Valley Ranch can be useful to managers needing to
determine if brush management efforts can be reasonably
and safely completed and a sustainable system established.
Riparian areas and the water they surround are of special
consequence in arid ecosystems. These areas constitute only
about 2 percent of the total Western acreage, yet they are
among the most productive and valuable lands. DeBano and
Schmidt (1989) have described the relationship of upland
watershed condition to riparian condition and found, not
surprisingly, a direct correlation between degraded upland
watershed condition and degraded riparian area condition.
They concluded that adequate treatment of all critical areas
in the upper watershed is necessary to provide a stable and
sustainable riparian area and is critical when attempting
any riparian restoration project. On Carrizo Valley Ranch,
we completed most ofthe upper watershed work (stabilizing
gullies, removing invading brush, and revegetating bare
ground) before being able to maintain a stable riparian area.
Chaney and his coworkers (1990) and Platts (1990) found
that maintenance of riparian areas, once restored, requires
a different grazing strategy than upland sites. Although I
have done some riparian corridor fencing, which works to
protect the riparian area from livestock access, I have
demonstrated that as long as the principle-limited and
managed access-is applied, fencing is not always a required
component. The key to the effective riparian protection
demonstrated at Carrizo Valley Ranch is protection during
the growing season if possible and rapid rotation when not.
309
Carrizo Demonstration Area _ __
Summary
The watershed above the Carrizo Valley Ranch is part of
the Smokey Bear Ranger District of the Lincoln National
Forest. In 1989 the USDA Forest Service began a watershed restoration and demonstration project on 55,000 acres
of National Forest of the pinyon-juniper ecosystem. The
project area contains large expanses of continuous canopy
pinyon-juniper that, prior to the introduction oflivestock
in the 1800's and subsequent fire suppression, supported a
wide variety of native grass plants. As the range degraded,
trees out-competed grass for available moisture, and soon
much of the productive soil beneath these dense woodland
stands eroded away leaving behind an extensive and active
gully system that continues to transport silt-laden water
into streams and rivers (Edwards 1991). With the urging of
private land owners that for years had to contend with the
deposition of millions of tons of sediment that originated on
National Forest land, and who had demonstrated that
watershed rehabilitation was not possible on their private
landholdings, a unique, cooperative watershed-based project
was begun. The project focuses on soil stabilization practices, vegetation management, water resource development,
vehicular travel management, and sound grazing management practices. The project's goals include control of soil
erosion, stabilization of steep gully slopes, restoration of
permanent riparian vegetation, and the rehabilitation of
native rangelands to support a sustainable mix of native
grass and woody plants.
As the result of treatments, begun in 1989, cool season
native species of grass and forbs long absent from the
National Forest have returned; in several drainages
springs have begun to flow again, and a wide variety of
upland and riparian wildlife species have returned to the
area making use ofthe increased edge areas, water supplies,
and additional food sources. On private lands adjacent to
the Forest, benefits have also been reported. In one area,
4,800 cubic yards of sediment from gully and sheet erosion
originating on National Forest land was cleaned out of a
pond. The following spring, after implementation of watershed restoration treatments on the Forest, a spring that had
not run for 50 years began to flow and continued to flow
throughout the summer, filling the pond with clear water.
The pond has now been stocked with trout and catfish.
Integrated resource management is the professional
vernacular describing what managers do who are in tune
with efficient, sustained use of the resources that are their
responsibility. Ifthe use of one resource affects the health or
production of another adversely, than the whole is diminished and economic and environmental costs are guaranteed to surface somewhere sometime. Common sense and
vision provide the foundation for bringing all parts of the
whole together into a comprehensive management plan.
Interestingly enough, as are many things in life, it is elusive
because it is so simple. And yet, if we intend long-term
survival we must implement this approach in every phase of
natural resource management.
As watershed restoration and rehabilitation work continues, it is important to understand that there will never be
sufficient government resources to treat every problem in
every area. Thus, success lies in demonstrating techniques
such as those developed on Carrizo Valley Ranch, which
proved internal and self-sustaining motivation for adoption on both private and public lands.
310
References __________
Bently, H. L. 1898. Grasses and forage plants of Central Texas.
Bulletin No. 10. USDA Special Agent in Charge of Grass Experiments, Abilene, TX.
Chaney, E.; Elmore, W.; Platts, W. S. 1990. Livestock grazing on
Western riparian areas. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Denver, CO.
DeBano, L. D.; Schmidt, L. J. 1989. Improving Southwestern
riparian areas through watershed management. USDA Forest
Service General Technical Report RM-182, Rocky Mountain
Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO.
Edwards, R. 1991. Carrizo Demonstration Area. United States
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Lincoln National
Forest, Smokey Bear Ranger District.
Goodloe, Sid. 1990. Twenty years of integratedlholistic resource
management, from integrated resource management symposium, Morelia, Mexico, March 27, 1990.
Leopold, Aldo. 1933/1991. The virgin Southwest, reprinted in The
River of the Mother of God and other essays by aldo Leopold.
Flander, S.; Barid, J., eds. University of Wisconsin Press. 1991.
New Mexico Environment Department. 1990. Biennial Water
Quality Report. NMED, Santa Fe, NM.
Platts, W. S. 1990. Managing fisheries and wildlife on rangelands
grazed by livestock. Nevada Department of Wildlife.
Stoddart, L. A.; Smith, A. D.; Box, T. W. 1975. Range management,
third edition. McGraw Hill Book Co., St. Louis, MO.
Wooten, E. O. 1908. The range problem in New Mexico. Bulletin 10.
Agri. Expt. Station, New Mexico College of Ag. and Mech. Arts.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-9. 1999