Wyoming Ranch Welcomes National Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative
By Gordon, Kindra
Board members of the National Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) steering committee met September 7 to 8, 2007, in Casper, Wyoming. The coalition includes representatives of American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forage and Grassland Council, American Sheep Industry, the Dairy Industry, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Farmers Union, Society for Range Management, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS). Rod Baumberger of South Dakota and Tim Munns of Utah represented SWCS at the meeting.
Established in 1991, the primary mission of GLCI is to ensure that high-quality technical assistance is available for privately owned grazing lands. Supporters of GLCI seek to offer this assistance on a voluntary basis and hope these efforts will increase the awareness of the importance of grazing land resources.
As part of the GLCI steering committee meeting, about 135 participants toured the Hardy Ranch north of Douglas, Wyoming. The Hardy Ranch family operation includes sheep, cattle, wildlife, and mining sharing the rangeland. Gene Hardy and his daughter and son- in-law Michelle and Shaun Musselman and their two young children are in their second year of implementing improvement practices to their range through an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract with assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Through water developments, fencing, and rotational grazing, the Hardy Ranch hopes to increase carrying capacity by about 30%. “NRCS has been great to work with, and in the end we will have a better ranch for the next generation,” said Shawn Musselman.
Shaun Musselman works a sheep herd with a ranch dog at the Hardy Ranch north of Douglas, Wyoming.
Kindra Gordon is news editor of the National Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative. For more information, visit http:// www.glci.org.
Copyright Soil and Water Conservation Society Jan/Feb 2008
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