#086, In Practice, Dec/Nov 2002

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT

IN PRACTICE

Providing the link between a healthy environment and a sound economy NOV EMBER / DECEMBER 2002 NUMBER 86

in this Issue

Purposeful Persistence

by Ann Adams

I

’ve been thinking a lot about persistence lately, about when it is helpful and when it isn’t. Laurence Sterne in Tristram Shandy wrote, “‘Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause—and of obstinacy in a bad one.”

Like Sterne, I believe that persistence fueled by good motives and intent can help people achieve goals that serve themselves and others.

However, if that persistence is fueled by rigid thinking, pride/ego, self-serving desires, or other “bad causes,” then you will likely be perceived as obstinate and the outcome may not be what you desire or best for your whole. That’s where a bigger purpose as opposed to a short-term objective can really help.

This lesson was brought home rather forcefully this year when I had an old root canal abcess on me. All my previous dental intervention had been of the Western or alleopathic variety, so when I began exploring my options I decided to explore more holistic approaches that were aligned with my values.

After some internet searches and learning about the pros and cons of root canals and apiectomy (a type of gum surgery), I located a local dentist who billed himself as holistic or “biological.” With great relief I arrived at his office. After looking at me and my x-ray, he told me that from his holistic perspective the best thing to do was to address the root cause (no pun intended) by pulling three of my four front teeth. This intervention was necessary in his mind because those teeth also had root canals and were therefore compromised with the toxic materials (amalgams) that had been used to make them 20 years ago. He would then fit me with a bridge, all for a mere $6,000.

Needless to say, I was taken aback by his definition of holistic. I had grown rather fond of my front teeth and there was only one that was really compromised in my mind. I also found the idea of paying him $6,000 rather compromising.

In response to his “holistic” advice, I did the

obvious; I rebounded back to the traditional approach and had an apiectomy. All went well for about 3 months, when the tooth became infected again. The answer: have the surgery again and if that didn’t work, pull the tooth.

I was even more convinced there had to be a way to handle this. I did more research on alternative dental intervention after my endodontist gave me two months to experiment.

I tried acupuncture, herbs, dietary changes, and homeopathy and two months later when I returned to the endodontist, he was surprised to find the infection gone. Not surprisingly, he didn’t ask what I had done to get rid of it.

Throughout that eight-month ordeal there were times where I just wanted someone else to make the decisions. I was tempted to let fear (of failing, large expenses, and irreparable damage) influence my decision-making. I had to keep stepping back and asking myself what I wanted as an outcome with the bigger picture in mind.

Ultimately that question helped me persist in finding a dental treatment that not only worked, but also was aligned with my values. My route did require more from me because of day-to-day self-monitoring to assess the situation and make my own decisions.

I couldn’t just turn it over to the “pros.” But I persisted in that effort because I felt that if I didn’t, I’d be copping out or compromising my values and ideals.

The articles in this issue also have the common thread of persistence, a persistence fueled by values and purpose and supported by the authors’ holistic goal and practice of Holistic Management. We all face challenges whether it is losing a job or a loved one, a health issue, or trying to figure out how to create a better world. With Holistic Management, we have a framework that guides our persistence when the waters get muddy and helps us get the results we want. That’s something to smile about.

Back in the mid-‘80s Jaime Jef fers, shown here with wife, Alicia, and their children, Analisa, Jaimito and Marcos, dreamed of more grass, productive cattle and diverse wildlif e and began making decisions in that direction. No w, close to 20 years later, the results on the ground speak for themselves as you’ll see in “Islands of Abundance” on page 8.

The Evolution of a Website Peter Donovan & Wilma Keppel . . . . . . . . . 2

From Theory to Practice Terri Goodfellow-Heyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Learning Through Death & Life John Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LAND & LIVESTOCK— A special section of IN PRACTICE In Northern New Mexico—Islands of Abundance Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Questions & Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Savory Center Forum

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Savory Center Bulletin Board . . . . . . .16 Savory Center Annual Report . . . . .17 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

The Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management

The Evolution of a Website

by Peter Donovan & Wilma Keppel

Ad definitum finem

The ALLAN SAVORY CENTER FOR HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. The center works to restore the vitality of communities and the natural resources on which they depend by advancing the practice of Holistic Management and coordinating its development worldwide.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Rio de la Vista, Chair Ann Adams, Secretary Manuel Casas, Treasurer Gary Rodgers Allan Savory

ADVISORY BOARD Robert Anderson, Chair, Corrales, NM Sam Brown, Austin, TX Leslie Christian, Portland, OR Gretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA Clint Josey, Dallas, TX Doug McDaniel, Lostine, OR Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, Mexico Bunker Sands, Dallas, TX York Schueller, El Segundo, CA Jim Shelton, Vinita, OK Richard Smith, Houston, TX

FOUNDERS Allan Savory Jody Butterfield

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT Mary Child, Regional Program Development Coordinator

STAFF Shannon Horst, Executive Director; Kate Bradshaw, Associate Director; Kelly Pasztor, Director of Educational Services; Lee Dueringer, Director of Development; Ann Adams, Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Membership and Educator Support Coordinator , Craig Leggett, Special Projects Manager; Ann Reeves, Bookkeeper.

Africa Centre for Holistic Management Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe tel: (263) (11) 213529; email: rogpachm@africaonline.co.zw Huggins Matanga, Director; Roger Parry, Manager, Regional Training Centre; Elias Ncube, Hwange Project Manager/Training Coordinator

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by The Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: savorycenter@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2002.

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Editor’s Note: We asked Peter & Wilma to share the story of their journey to upgrade the Managing Wholes website, which is currently a wonderful resource for holistic managers. As you will read in the following article, there are many great stories and photos about holistic managers as well as opportunities to post your information and ideas. Their volunteer efforts are greatly appreciated by the Savory Center staff as we all work toward our common focus of demonstrating to others how Holistic Management has helped people improve their land, their families, and their communities.

This article begins with Peter’s story.

I

n the 1970s and 1980s I herded sheep in Oregon and Idaho and saw a lot of range country. For a century, the remoter parts of Hells Canyon have been sheep range. Herding, rather than fencing or supplement, was the primary livestock management tool. I noticed a big difference between rugged and remote Hells Canyon, which had few weeds and lots of perennial grasses, and more accessible ranges closer to towns and roads, which were mostly annual grasses and weeds.

When Doug McDaniel brought Allan Savory to Enterprise, Oregon in 1994, hearing the one-day overview changed my life. The matter of time and timing, brittleness, wholes being different from the sum of their parts, and the decision framework—all of it made exciting sense. There is a tremendous sense of empowerment, of creative possibility, that happens when you go a step or two deeper in realizing why things are the way they are, and realizing where the leverage point of change is. Though creating these changes is far from easy or quick, there is energy there, and Allan has catalyzed it in thousands of people around the world.

Writing—A Form of Production I’d been somewhat interested in writing and communications, but here was something I could be passionate about. How could I investigate this, for myself and others? I wasn’t managing land, so I began to write articles about people and practitioners I visited. Jack Southworth in Seneca, Oregon was the first.

Newspaper and magazine editors rejected most of my stories. They were too long, or not

“balanced.” I still wanted to learn more. Luckily, even though I was in Oregon, I was able to participate in some of the Kellogg project trainings in Washington, where I met Don Nelson, Jeff Goebel, and others. The Kellogg project gave me a small grant to restart the regional Holistic Management newsletter that Jack and Teresa Southworth had been producing. My wife, Erin, helped with illustrations and editing.

At first I called it Practical Holism , then Patterns of Choice . We charged for subscriptions, which only paid for the print and mailing costs. But doing the magazine was an incentive to get out there and do the reporting, and we received lots of support and encouragement. I met a lot of inspiring people, and took several courses with the Savory Center. I also owe a lot to Jeff Goebel, Bob Chadwick, and Bud Williams.

I want a healthy, verdant ecosystem.

Therefore, the people part of the future resource base needs to be a critical mass of people locally and worldwide who understand and use the Holistic Management ® decision-making framework. One of my forms of production is writing and communication that helps create this. Monitoring is fairly anecdotal at present, as is the matter of cause and effect in paradigm shifts. Maybe writers don’t create change as much as facilitate changes that people are ready for.

Real stories and examples of people making decisions holistically seem to work better than preaching or theorizing. People have less resistance to stories than to theories, and are more willing to learn. So I decided to focus on learning holistic decision-making rather than teaching it, and to try and share what I was learning.

From One Voice to Many Because I wanted to explore the potential of the internet, I started a website in 1996, when we lived off the grid way out on the bunchgrass prairie. Our telephone was a party line, and I did my online errands at 4 a.m. on a slow connection. Now we live in town. We dropped the magazine as it was a large effort for no profit, and went to a free email newsletter, which is still no profit but it is easier, as well as being free for readers.

Last year I began to familiarize myself with

open-source software that enabled websites to at 510/482-1846 or tagjag@aol.com. shift from the old “broadcast” model (a model My next step seemed obvious. In 11 years where those who know, broadcast “their Holistic Management, which I consider the best truths” to passive recipients who supposedly hope for humanity’s future, had not been widely don’t know) to the emerging participatory adopted or even accepted, in spite of spectacular style, where users and readers can contribute. I successes like turning desert into grassland. I didn’t want managingwholes.com to be just my thought there had to be a logjam in how people website—I wanted it to exemplify a movement. were learning about Holistic Management.

Certified Educator Don Nelson shared a vision with me some years ago during the Kellogg training project. He envisioned a room into which people can come, seeking change and transformation around some shared principles, missions, and goals. This room needs to have lots of doorways, with a variety of labels on them (e.g., Holistic Management, consensus, Seven Habits, Enterprise Facilitation, low-stress livestock handling, asset-based community development). There can be tremendous synergy and network effects here, and this Convince the most people by letting pictures tell the became the basic design of the Managing story. Here conventional weed control failed (abo ve), Wholes website. Our focus was providing while across the fence dense sward minimizes people an opportunity to see how people invaders. (Article: managingwholes.com/neave1.htm.) were managing wholes effectively and encourage others to explore these various processes as well.

In April 2002, Wilma Keppel posted a message on the Savory Center’s electronic conference bemoaning the lack of pictures on websites devoted to Holistic Management. The day before I had installed a picture upload utility on the website, so I invited her to help. Since then she has been a huge help in improving usability, content, and design. We have complementary skills, but similar motivations. Though we’ve never met face to That’s when I came across some research face, technology makes it easy to collaborate done on what it takes to convince people over distance, particularly on website projects, in a business setting: and we’d welcome other volunteers. We need • 55% of people need to see evidence before your help to create and maintain the future they’re convinced, resource base of creative and passionate • 30% need to hear it, holistic decision makers.

• 12% need to do it, • and just 3% are convinced when they read it.

Wilma’s Story People also need to encounter information in a particular way that convinces them. For An advocate of long-term sustainability most people that means a certain number of since 1974, I first encountered Holistic times (52%), usually 3 or fewer, or over a Management in 1991. At that time I was certain period of time (25%). absolutely stuck by a logjam I didn’t know I When I thumbed through my Holistic had, and couldn’t move forward no matter how Management books and magazines, and I tried. In 1999 I discovered the logjam; a lot of checked some websites, what did I see? Text! hard work got it unjammed by spring 2002.

Of course we weren’t convincing people! I The single most helpful process was a twowanted to do something to spread Holistic hour structural consulting by CE-in-training Management; here was a logjam one person Tom Walther. If you can’t get the results you could do something about. want no matter what you do, I highly Articles and web pages with photos recommend this process. You can reach Tom

seemed the obvious way to go. But where could I get the photos I needed? Photos of desertification and conventional management abound in private and government archives, most of which now have web catalogs. I knew photos of Holistic Management successes existed, because I’d seen them in people’s homes. But no public source existed, for me or for other journalists. With encouragement from the Savory Center, I decided to start one.

Peter immediately offered to host the online part of the photo archive on Managing Wholes if I’d set it up. When I realized that problems with the site’s usability made it unsuitable for much of what I wanted to do, he let me redesign the user interface. Although this turned into a long, difficult, and seemingly interminable process, the improvements greatly increased site traffic and search engine rankings. Meanwhile, people have been sending me photos. Some have already gone up on web pages (see our land restoration topic for links), with more to come. I hope to have an online catalog up, and start selling articles to print magazines, by October.

Although the work is challenging, and thus far unpaid, it’s a lot of fun, and I get to work with fantastic people from around the world. Judging by the feedback I’m getting, it’s starting to make a difference. What keeps me going is my vision of the world as it could be— happy humans restoring nature to vibrant good health instead of trashing the planet and each other.

Rather than writing a formal holistic goal, Peter and I started by discussing in depth what we wanted and what we thought it would take to get there. Because we both want the same end result—a verdant ecosystem and responsible human communities—testing is easy, though informal. We simply talk about where we think an action will take or has taken us in relation to our goal, and what to do next.

Monitoring of site traffic and search engine rankings is easy, thanks to software; monitoring the changes that count—what people actually think and do—still has us stumped.

We think what we’re doing can ultimately have a big impact. Making a positive difference is the best reward I could have.

To visit the Managing Wholes website go to http://managingwholes.com or contact Peter and Wilma at contact@managingwholes.com.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 3

From Theory to Practice

by Terri Goodfellow-Heyer

I

n the back of my brain, underneath the immediate must-do’s of every day living, I have wanted to believe that in the end, I made a positive difference. As my understanding of Holistic Management has grown over the years, so has my desire to create a positive difference in my life. It wasn’t always so.

A New Path In November of 1999, I was the Executive Director of one of Minnesota’s oldest nonprofits and searching for ways to keep the organization viable. My life consisted of quarterly board meetings (involving 34 directors), producing a regional gardening magazine, and working an estimated sixty to seventy hours per week to demonstrate my commitment and dedication. It was odd that so much of the “busy work” I was doing seemed so pointless. Likewise, the entire staff struggled with understanding the goals and objectives of the organization.

We did things that way because we had always done things that way. No one wanted to challenge the status quo. About this time, our board of directors began a major building renovation and major fund raising campaign, and our already hectic life became chaotic. The lofty and ambitious goals were in place, but staff felt little power to make any real changes.

As chief administrator, it was my responsibility to oversee the success of the organization’s mission. In fact, I was responsible for the many goals and objectives of the board of directors. My experience over the last four years taught me that the directors on the board were not always interested in reaching consensus on any number of issues and decision-making was done mostly in reaction. Over the years, I saw many members leave meetings feeling disrespected and disenfranchised, while some just quietly resigned.

It was my plan to bring decision-makers (board and staff and volunteers) to the table and begin a dialogue about Total Quality Management™ for the organization. In December 1999, I stumbled across the Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management website. The page on testing one’s decisions was an epiphany for me. Over the following weeks I revisited the website, becoming more

4 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #86

intrigued with the case studies and more aware of my own paradigm and potential shifts. I found the information in the articles compelling.

With 25+ years background in horticulture, environmental studies, and landscape design, I was confident in my understanding of plant species growth and habitat, as well as design elements. Before Holistic Management, I believed the problem was the villainous exotics that were destroying our natural treasures of woods and water.

I was familiar with Stephen Covey and the “Seven Habits” series, so consequently forming the “holistic” goal didn’t seem like a big leap for me. Paul Hawken and his book, The Ecology of Commerce, had also inspired me, but this Holistic Management stuff seemed to link the esoteric to the functional. My agenda for 2000 was to learn more about Holistic Management. Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I was given an option by the board of retiring or resigning (due to financial difficulties, of course). I realized I needed Holistic Management more than ever, so in 2000 I applied for the Savory Center’s Certified Educator Training Program.

Finding a Niche

Terri Goodfellow-Heyer has found a way to make a positive dif ference with Holistic Management.

My first official Holistic Management “ah ha!” came when I realized, we were fighting the wrong war! So many of the articles our organization had printed were on getting rid of a particular plant or pest. It started to seem very silly now. Our mission was to educate, but really we were only educating on those topics that would pass the politically correct crowd of the board of directors.

I made a promise to myself and my organization. We had an opportunity to convey the many diverse aspects of horticulture and gardening, including water quality, soil erosion, energy flow (all those mowers, weed whippers, and power tools!), plant communities . . . the list went on! I wanted to share my new found understanding of “holism” with our members, staff and board of directors.

As I became involved in the Holistic Management movement, I originally saw myself as a bit of an anomaly in the Holistic Management network of ranchers, farmers, land managers because I didn’t believe I had a direct link to land management. This was a key paradigm I needed to shift to better manage holistically. Once I was able to cast off my paradigms of what land management was, I was better able to see all the different venues, diverse situations, formats, and multitudes of groups, communities, networks I was involved in where I could use this decision-making framework.

It also became apparent that better decision-making would greatly benefit the community level as well. I had been appointed to the city of Plymouth’s Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) in 1998. Back then a dedicated group of community members and staff developed a surface water management plan for our city. My input was mostly about the utility of using plants as buffers, increasing native plant species and biodiversity, community involvement (volunteerism), and education.

As I began my first year of Holistic Management training, I saw the possibilities to get community advisory groups like this one thinking in more sustainable ways and making better recommendations to the city. I won’t go into great depth stereotyping our northern culture, but I can assure you the term “holistic” was not seen as a favorable addition to our language. Save words like that for those new age, tree-hugging, species-saving radicals out West (or East or South). It has been hard to

rock status quo but there is a small ripple as we begin to ask more sustainable questions about our city environment.

Holistic Management allowed a framework in which to pose very simple questions. What do we really want? How can we monitor for short- and long-term change? How will we know if we’ve achieved those changes? What are we doing and why are we doing it?” These questions made the engineers on our board very uncomfortable. They wanted to discount the questions as irrelevant, esoteric and completely subjective. I couldn’t back down.

As they focused on problems (getting rid of swimmer’s itch, the algal blooms from homeowner’s fertilizers containing phosphorus, erosion and building alum treatment plants), I kept asking, “Can we agree what we want our community to look like today? Tomorrow?

100 years from today?”

There were times I left these meetings feeling incredibly frustrated. Then something someone else said made sense and our focus turned from problems to root causes. We talked about future generations. This helped move the group out of the “let’s kick the problem around for a while and see what’s left” stage to a more holistic view of what a healthy, environmentally, socially and economically sound city looks like. In lieu of a city-wide holistic goal, I have a temporary one that I use to test against many of the actions, requests, and plans that come our way.

My city will benefit as a result of my training.

Taking It Personally My real success in using the Holistic Management® framework has been at a very personal level for me. The process of developing my own holistic goal has had a positive influence on my relationships with my family as well as the other less noticeable things in life like shopping (shop for needs and reuse when possible), community service (working at a community level to bring about change), and my landscape (redesigning since it all begins at the soil level).

Most recently I’ve been able to weigh the pros and cons of accepting a job outside my formal education and decide whether to start a Holistic Management consulting business. The testing guidelines proved most helpful in sorting out what I really wanted, and determining if I was heading toward my holistic goal.

The most important questions I needed answers to and would also use in monitoring involved the social and financial weak link. In considering this new career I needed to be

comfortable with this decision as well as confront a fear that I might fail. After all, I thought I had already failed in being let go by the nonprofit. Wow! Talk about internal paralysis! But focusing on my holistic goal, I began to put one foot in front of the other and realized the benefits that come with deep reflection—a renewed confidence in myself.

But, the financial weak link test was a bit more difficult in considering this decision. I was testing with my partner. He couldn’t understand where I was going with the weak link thing—his reality dealt in factual numbers, climbing debt, losing a quality of life we had both come to enjoy. I was talking about the best fit of my resources of skills, talents and expertise. He was talking about making ends meet.

Certainly, finances were a real burden on our relationship. My significant other believed our poor financial condition was a result of lack of income. I believed income had very little to do with our financial condition.

We’ve had some interesting dialogue.

Holistic Management was the catalyst for change that I had been looking for.

We talked about what we wanted out of life, for ourselves and our children, for now and for our retirement years. We discussed the incredible loss of paper dollars for us over the past few years, declining resources and earning potential. We listened and heard the anxiety each of us felt. It’s hard to find quality of life when you feel like you’re on a slippery slope of Mount Everest, but we did.

The communication between us gave us the strength to see the larger picture of our lives and know these things are temporal.

But the difference I attribute to Holistic Management was taking a more active role in what change I/we wanted. If we could truly make decisions that would take us closer to that ideal, what could stop us? The process alone has made our relationship stronger through better communication, more loving, and more understanding.

Monitoring for Life I think one of the hardest parts of practicing Holistic Management was making

the connection between forming a holistic goal and living a holistic goal. I finally realized that I needed to use the testing questions and feedback loop of monitoring to help me get clearer about what I wanted and to achieve it.

As monitoring has become a guide for my “true north” decisions, I have been able to learn new behaviors that have helped me keep myself from getting stuck in old behaviors or repeating the same mistakes. The power is in my holistic goal and became a turning point in decision-making when I realized I could monitor things like behaviors, attitudes, choices and even jobs to know if they are taking me closer or further from where I want to be. At this point I am very happy with the outcome of accepting a new position with Management Resource Solutions (MRS).

Holistic Management was the catalyst for change that I had been looking for. It has been an incredibly powerful process for me as I realize even some of the minor decisions are moving me towards my holistic goal. I don’t need to be right anymore, only clear about what I perceive to be my truth.

I listen better now. I consider as many possibilities or scenarios or variables to help me understand the whole of something I am managing. I don’t seem to view “gut reactions” as so important now—only a part of any decision. My experience is that this practice takes time, requires deep thinking and may sometimes produce unforeseen results, which is why the framework includes monitoring.

In training myself to live a more holistic lifestyle, I didn’t plan on family members’ resistance. I didn’t realize how very difficult change is for so many people. But I’ve become more tolerant over the years of other people’s “stuff.” I remember my mom telling me for years, “you can’t change anybody else.” Funny, I thought I could. In the process I’ve learned to be more flexible in who I am and who I want to become. Most of all, I’ve learned how great a tool kindness and empathy are.

This isn’t a traditional story of Holistic Management and success in land management.

It’s my story of how I’ve internalized the concepts of Holistic Management and brought great benefits to my family, my community, and myself. With practice, I’ve begun to make those conscious and thoughtful decisions to live the life of my dreams.

Terri Goodfellow-Heyer is a graduate of the 2000 Certified Educator Training Program and lives happily in Plymouth, Minnesota. She can be reached at 763/559-0099 or tgheyer@attbi.com.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 5

Learning Through Death & Life

by John Ball

J

acob and I are a son and father team. We lost our partner, Nancy, to breast cancer in April of 2000. Nancy was 40 when she died following more than a three-year battle.

Jacob was almost 6, and I was 57. Ann Adams asked that we share our experience, particularly Jacob’s progress, and how Holistic Management has helped us through this transition.

A Courageous Journey

really understand how wonderful people are.

I am thankful for a number of other things. One is we didn’t lose Nancy until the very end. Another was she kept investing in Jacob as long as she had the strength to sit up and talk. Jacob’s homework was job number one for her, and all of us can see the results of that fine work in the way Jacob manages himself today. Time also allowed me to keep a grip on myself and to talk about physical and spiritual realities— talks that certainly helped Jacob and me deal with things later.

The day I had to sit down to tell Jacob

Nancy and I were married in 1990. We were making the usual sort of plans you might expect for people with our interests, a young child, and extensive family ties. Immediately before and through most of her battle with cancer, Nancy was trying to earn a Master’s Degree in Education in order to make a significant career change from a meteorologist with the National Weather Service to grade school teaching, en route to help enable my “dream farm” in Vermont.

Our lives changed drastically when Nancy had just stepped out of the shower in the same bathroom I had been summoned to when the results of a home pregnancy test told us we were going to have a baby. This time, Jacob and John Ball—a son/father team managing though, there was a lump in her right holistically. breast, and we were to start a much less joyous journey. We went through surgeries, radiation treatments, and that his mother was going to die was the chemo time after time. I already knew I toughest day I ever had. Tougher by far than had a grand lady for a wife, but I also had a telling him she had died a few weeks later. ringside seat to a remarkable demonstration There were many blessings as we went of courage and determination. I wished along, but certainly one was to have the time you’d had a chance to know her. for both of us to see and discuss—to try to Our health care is through an HMO, and understand and assimilate. By that time also, we believe we got excellent treatment from we had evolved a nightly routine of talking a group of caring professionals. There was a about anything at all. During the time when lot for everyone to do, and Nancy had Nancy was sick, many of those discussions wonderful support at work, too. Her boss were about her status. When Jacob had was just as accommodating as possible, and reached his limit, he would say, “Let’s talk fellow employees donated more leave than about something else.” Those “something Nancy felt morally right in using. People else’s” included, and largely now deal with, would routinely send home meals for us, school work, other problems, and what we write cards and letters, drop by, invite us out, wanted to do with our future. and offer prayers and hugs. It’s not until you Up to just a few months before her go through an experience like this that you

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death, Nancy and I were paying extra on the mortgage, saving through payroll deductions, and consistently adding to our money market fund. I was in a hurry to retire and get my dream farm in Vermont. My interest in the dynamics of grazing management put me on the path to Holistic Management.

While I began to penetrate the decisionmaking process in Holistic Management, we didn’t really have the time or energy to get into them at that point.

A Time to Grieve Purely on auto-pilot, I joined a bereavement support group. Almost all of us had children—they varied in age from post college to very early elementary. But after that, there were tremendous variations in levels of support, financial condition, employment, coping skills, the demands from children, jobs, and the manner in which we had lost our partners.

The tangle of paperwork and the press of decisions that seemed to need immediate attention overwhelmed us all.

As I began my own recovery process, I began to think about and then tried to express a belief that people going through bereavement would benefit from this thing called Holistic Management. I certainly didn’t know Holistic Management very well, and I did a lousy job of trying to sell it to my group, and subsequently in a pitch to the Bereavement Program Coordinator.

After the fact, I realized that folks going through the first year of bereavement really don’t have the energy and time for something this new. I also realized that a Coordinator of a Bereavement Program probably was going to continue to focus on coordinating bereavement programs and not on steps that might theoretically help these folks later. Also, I learned that beginning with the natural resources base for Holistic Management was not the way to pitch it in a bereavement setting. Still, it was clear that there would be real value to those folks and to Jacob and me if somehow Holistic

Management could be woven into the recovery process. This was certainly a teachable moment, but I had lots of things to learn before I could facilitate that process.

A Time to Plant So Jacob and I started sitting in the sunshine and working at the kitchen table to try to sort it out. At Home with Holistic Management was where we started. Our initial attempts at committing our ideas to paper seemed to take us around in circles— the same phrases seemed to be coming up every time we set down a draft of the next chunk of language. We hadn’t successfully made the paradigm shift, and I started to cast about to find some help from the Center— someone close to Maryland if possible. Mary Child, the Savory Center’s Regional Program Development Coordinator, responded and invested heavily in the start that Jacob and I needed to make.

As we began to manage holistically, we began to discuss options for our purchases and think of new questions to ask in discussing the merits of one purchase or another. We began to talk about the wisdom of ear-marking money for different purposes and special funds. What was really surprising, both in its power and its intelligibility to Jacob, was the long-term focus of goal setting.

There was also a nice mesh between this long-term goal setting idea and where Jacob and I were with our communications and evening discussions. For my own well being, I realized that talking to my “team” really paid dividends, so I was easily convinced Jacob ought to learn and participate in managing holistically. We are still new to all this, but we know where we want to head—we have a good idea of where Holistic Management will take us when we have implemented a written, comprehensive holistic goal and plan.

A Time To Reap There were clearly some steps we could take right away. For instance, we have now been living on half my take home pay and

banking the rest for more than two years.

I had to “borrow” a little the first few months as we made the transition from the old paradigm to the new. It is astounding to me that we can do this—that we are able to live on a quarter of the take home pay we used to enjoy when Nancy was working.

Of course there are some peculiar circumstances that allowed us to get to this point so quickly.

We have now been living on half my take home pay and banking the rest for more than two years.

We used most of our savings and a chunk of our life insurance proceeds to pay off the mortgage. I felt safer in doing this than most might since Jacob also gets a Social Security benefit that is intended to help with the support of dependent minors. However, our current life style allows this money to go directly to his “college fund.” So we also don’t have the pressing need to save for school that other families might have.

We are already enjoying the real peace that comes from putting our spending choices on automatic. We still have discussions around the margins, especially about cool stuff or things we “really must have.” This is where we can bring in questions like the environmental costs in the creation of products and services, the amount of real use we might get from something, how important that is to us, whether that is the best use of our money, and ultimately what the fate of the waste is. At the same time I still “allow” us to use our savings for property taxes and for Christmas, travel, and for doing things with family and helping friends.

Our experiences have also helped me understand the importance of my community and neighborhood. Jacob and

I are spending time with neighbors as they learn to manage holistically. They are making remarkable progress, and I think they clearly grasped the roots of Holistic Management when, in a side conversation about my frustrations with improving organizational performance in my workplace, the mom/wife in the team said, “Just keep stomping.” I think she saw the environment in my workplace as the equivalent of a brittle environment—not functioning well with, lots of standing dead material, etc.

So she thought I should persist in my short term efforts to stir thing up and to take heart in the long-term goal of a more functional organization in the end.

We are gradually taking the next steps to flesh out our holistic goal. We continue to rely on At Home, but also on Allan Savory’s video presentations. It must be reassuring for Jacob to know that others share our interest in Holistic Management, because in the middle of one of Allan’s tapes, he said, “Look, he is talking about our kind of Holistic Management!”

Jacob is now in the third grade. He sings while he plays, (lately he has become quite an authority on the American Civil War, so the music is from that era). He is reading well, and our nightly conversations cover the whole gamut from possibilities in his future to doing algebra and arithmetic problems involving negative numbers in his head. Hey, a dad is entitled to some bragging every now and then. We talk about options for when I retire. He piles onto my lap whenever I need a hug. He commonly strengthens his arguments with pieces of Holistic Management thinking. It is a good thing many of these discussions occur after lights are out, or he would see how often he makes me smile. When I go to check on him before going to bed, he certainly looks like a boy upon whom the world once again lies lightly and joyfully. And that is a blessing.

John and Jacob Ball live in Germantown, Maryland and can be reached at: 18965 Abbotsford Circle, Germantown, MD 20876-1727 or njball@erols.com.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 7

LAND&LIVESTOCK A Special Section of

IN PRACTICE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2002

#86

In Northern Mexico—

Islands of Abundance

Jaime Jef fers inspecting his cattle as they move into a new paddock.

by Jim Howell

T

hanks to watching old western movies, most of us imagine northern Mexico to be a drought-stricken, cactus-strewn, barren wasteland comprised of dry sandy washes, bare, rocky cliffs, and starving donkeys. That’s what I’d always pictured anyway. Over the past eight years or so, I’ve actually met a few genuine northern Mexicans, and their descriptions of home didn’t all fit Hollywood’s version. Despite their accounts, I still had a tough time erasing my biased Mexican impressions. In March 2002, my wife, Daniela, and I, along with our daughter, Savanna, and friends Byron and Shelly Shelton, decided to head south to see for ourselves.

Our sojourn across Mexico’s northern frontier began in the state of Sonora, the low desert on the west side of the country. There we spent the bulk of our time on Rancho de la Inmaculada, owned by Ivan and Martha Aguirre and featured in the July/August 2002 issue of IN PRACTICE. From Sonora we headed east over the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range and into the state of Chihuahua. Sonora itself was pretty tough country on the whole, and didn’t do much to reform my “south of the border” picture.

As we headed up into the Sierra Madres, however, things started to change. Oak covered hills now filled the windows, and in some places there were huge intermountain valleys filled with yellow waving grasses. Those scenes were rare, however. Over most of our drive, the grasses were peeled off to bare ground, and eroding gullies slashed the landscape nearly everywhere. The previous ten years of below average rainfall in the American Southwest didn’t stop at the border. Mexico had suffered tremendously as well.

Our ten-hour drive finally ended at the picturesque town of Nuevo Casas Grandes, where we were to meet our first Chihuahuan holistic ranching family, Jaime and Alicia Jeffers, the following morning. Jaime’s family has ranched on extensive holdings across northern Mexico since this part of the country first opened up for settlement. Incidentally, that didn’t happen extensively until the 1920s. Prior to that it was a wild no-man’s land. Even in the ‘20s, most ranches were bought for private hunting preserves and weren’t truly settled by people working

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the land. It wasn’t until after World War II that the livestock business took off in the dry north.

Reality Check Jaime began managing the Jeffers’ family’s 16,000-hectare (40,000acre) ranch, “Tapiecitas,” in 1984 at the age of 17. That first year was a rude awakening. Most of us don’t change our ways until crisis forces it upon us, and for those of us truly entrenched in our habits, numerous crises are sometimes necessary. But when you’re only 17 and still not married to a long list of unshakable routines, a crisis can precipitate immediate change. The year of 1984 was pretty dry, but not terribly so. Nonetheless, Tapiecitas went into that winter running 2,000 mother cows, and came out of it running 1,500. Five hundred head, a quarter of the herd, died from starvation. A severely degraded landscape and gross overstocking combined to create a nasty crisis, and at 17 years young, Jaime knew this wasn’t the life he wanted.

Still eager, but with a new grasp on reality, Jaime started attending Holistic Management and Ranching for Profit schools. He wanted to be a rancher, but he wanted to see grass growing where there was none, fat cattle raising healthy calves, and abundant wildlife, and so began a gradual shift to holism. Believing that he still needed high cattle numbers to maintain a disturbed soil surface, Jaime elected to initially increase stocking rate to 2,200 head, but to embark on a major supplementation program to keep the cattle alive. From 1985 to 1989, Tapiecitas, in an average winter, bought and fed 50,000 small bales of alfalfa, 40,000 bales of oat hay, and 300 metric tons of protein cake. It kept the cattle alive, but at massive expense to both finances and quality of life. That’s an awful lot of feed to put out, and in northern Mexico, hay isn’t cheap.

Paradigm Shifts By 1990, Jaime had come to realize that, holistically, none of this made any sense. He shifted his focus to holistic land planning and grazing planning, deciding to make do with what the ranch itself could produce, and eliminate their growing dependence on huge outside

inputs. “I’d a lot rather spend my time thinking and planning than Focus on Fertility feeding hay and hauling off dead cattle,” said Jaime.

Jaime follows a strict and efficient herd management policy, with Tapiecitas is now an island of abundance amidst huge expanses of fertility being his sole selection criterion. It doesn’t matter how old a desertifying rangeland. At an average elevation of about 6,500 feet cow is, if she keeps coming in with a calf, she stays in the herd. None (2,000 meters), and at a near-subtropical of the cattle are eartagged or tattooed or latitude, the landscape of Tapiecitas is a individually identified in any way. Calving cattle rancher’s dream. It’s still rough, takes place over two seasons, one in especially the western half of the ranch, summer from July 7 to September 7 with high steep mountains and dense (coinciding with the best grass of the year), brush. It also supports some of the most and the other in winter from December 9 to potentially productive and diverse February 9. Most of the calves, about 80 grasslands I’ve ever seen, especially in an percent, arrive during the summer season, environment that only expects 18 inches nurse their mothers through the winter, and (450 mm) of annual precipitation. About are weaned in March. These calves had just 50 percent of that total comes in July been weaned prior to our visit, and the and August during the summer monsoon cows looked like they’d been working all season, and most of the rest usually winter, but were in plenty good enough arrives by October. Winter moisture is shape to recover prior to their next calving also possible, and at their fairly high in July. The winter-born calves are weaned elevation, it usually comes in the form of in November. snow, but melts off quickly at their low In October, when both groups of cows latitude. have calves on them, every one that doesn’t After the decision to quit feeding, have a calf at its side is pregnancy checked.

Jaime realized the first thing he had to If she’s open, a year brand is slapped on do was get a whole lot better control her rib. If she already has a brand and is The portable water trough/storage tank that Jaime of his cattle, control the timing of his open, that means she’s missed twice and Jeffers hauls to his cattle. Up to 1,000 head can water grazing, and increase stock density to gets sent down the road. It’s simple and with this single trough—the key is fast delivery of push cattle into country they normally effective.

Only about 50 head per year end high pressure water through a 2-inch pipe. wouldn’t venture into. Two-inch pipe up being culled due to not breeding back now delivers high pressure water to 30the second time. All the cows are black odd paddocks on the eastern half of the Angus, and the emphasis on fertility has resulted in a herd of ranch, making herd amalgamation, high graze/trample to recovery moderate sized, very efficient animals. Despite the different calving ratios, and more even forage utilization possible. seasons, all the cows are usually managed as a single herd. The Cattle (up to 1,000 head in a herd) water in a portable dual calving seasons help spread out marketing options and cash trough/storage tank that Jaime moves on the back of his flatbed flow as well. pickup. In most years, he only plans to graze each pasture once during the spring and summer growing season, and usually fairly lightly. If Rare and Endangered Species excellent moisture conditions prevail, a second grazing may be taken Back in the rough mountains on the ranch’s western half, wildlife in fully recovered paddocks while growth is still occurring. In wet abounds. Black bear and mountain lion are common. The ocelot, a catwinter years (about three out of ten), stored soil moisture in the spring like predator of small mammals that is nearly extinct (an estimated can result in green-up during March, April and early May. Most years, 250 total animals survive in the wild), also calls Tapiecitas home, as however, the growing season only lasts from July through September. does the threatened jaguar (only an estimated total of 500 live in all May and June are typically the hottest and driest months. During the of Mexico). The rare Coues deer, a tiny subspecies of the white-tailed dormant season, Jaime plans two grazing periods in the paddocks that deer, is a common herbivore on the ranch. Healthy populations of are in the best shape, and only one in those still recovering from pronghorn used to dash across the ranch’s open basins, but they were decades of abuse. Due to abundant populations of predators, the hunted to extinction about 15 years ago. Jaime told us another nearly more rugged, less developed west half of the ranch is used after the unbelievable wildlife statistic. Up until the mid-1980s, when Jaime was calves are weaned. a teenager, there were still occasional bands of 30 or 40 wild bison that Now, after 12 years of planned grazing, huge areas of once would wander across the ranch, but they disappeared about the same denuded intermountain basins are covered up in a variety of time as the pronghorn. productive grama grasses (very high quality warm-season Back in the mid-’80s, Jaime dreamed of more grass, productive perennials), including knee-high blue grama. The bluestems, which cattle, and diverse wildlife, and began making decisions in that are more productive warm-season perennials typical of grass-laden direction. Now, close to 20 years later, the results on the ground speak places like eastern Kansas and Oklahoma, are coming in all over the for themselves. Tapiecitas truly is an island of abundance. ranch. Jaime says they are especially valuable in that they green up earlier in the year and provide a green bite long before the grama continued on page 10 grasses get going.

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LAND & LIVESTOCK

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Islands of Abundance continued from page 9

El Muchacho After our visit with the Jeffers, we headed further south into the state of Chihuahua to “El Muchacho,” the ranch of Octavio and Susana Bermudez.. Most of El Muchacho lies in lower elevation desert scrub type of country, with abundant patches of grass mixed throughout, especially where heavy rainfall runoff collects in low areas

The Bermudez family: Susana, Katia, Octavio, Suzie, and Octavio Jr., (son Julian is not pictured).

and broad draws. Octavio was an early proponent of Holistic Management. Susana’s father, Bill Finan, was one of Allan Savory’s first clients in North America. Octavio developed his ranch’s fencing and water infrastructure aggressively, stringing electric fence literally everywhere, but with less than impressive results. The land improved, especially during the better than average rainfall years of the ‘80s, but lots of other problems ensued.

Octavio and Susana live in Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, and as a result have to depend on mostly unsupervised labor to get all the work done. Octavio claims that his laborers just never developed sufficient commitment or ownership in the grazing planning process. Without this buy-in, all-important daily monitoring wasn’t happening, fences weren’t being maintained, cattle were staying too long in a pasture or not long enough, etc. According to Octavio, it was too intensive to work without his constant presence.

After much deliberation, they decided to back off and take out most of the electric fence, and have now cut back to 14 permanent paddocks on their 15,000 hectares (37,500 acres). Why 14? By managing with just one herd of about 1,000 cows, and with that level of subdivision, grazing periods still stay fairly short at an average of 14 days during their planned seven-month dormant season. Octavio says that his biggest problem during the dormant season is achieving an even level of forage utilization. In other words, without sufficient stock density, the cattle don’t spread out to all corners of the pasture, and forage goes unused. He says that 1,000 head grazing an average pasture size of about 2,700 acres (1,080 ha) for 14 days is a sufficient level of stock density and time to achieve this fairly even level of utilization.

During the growing season, one herd grazing 14 pastures is still

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sufficient to minimize most overgrazing as well. For the Bermudez’ management situation, it seemed like a good compromise. Their labor force was certainly much happier, there was still plenty of grass to see them through the remainder of the dormant season (tons more than any neighbor’s), and, for late winter, the cattle were in good condition.

Like Jaime Jeffers, Octavio times his calving to coincide with the most predictable green grass of the year. Bulls go out in September for a three-month breeding season, and calves come June through August.

Octavio has a desert-adapted herd of black Angus and Hereford cattle.

They are so well adapted that lots of area ranchers come to El Muchacho for breeding stock. The top end of the bull calves sell as breeding bulls for US$800-US$1,100 each. The Mexican government also ran a program that gave producers up to 30,000 pesos (about US$3,500) to buy breeding heifers, and many ranchers came to Octavio for their female needs as well. Many of these heifer buyers became bull buyers, too.

Octavio pushed his stocking rate up to 2,000 mother cows during the good years of the ‘80s, when annual precipitation ranged from 14-16 inches (350-400 mm). The last ten years have brought a scant 7-10 inches (180-250 mm) each, however, and ecological realities have forced a reduction in stocking rate down to the current 1,000 head.

In addition to his own operation, Octavio and Susana also lease another nearby 7,000-hectare (17,500-acre) ranch where they custom graze another 2,000 yearling steers on the gain. The calves arrive weighing 300 pounds (136 kgs), and in good years can really pack on the weight. Back on El Muchacho, Octavio ran a set of 800 steers one year that gained 148 kgs (325 pounds) in 120 days. He budgets a 120-kg (264-pound) gain on the custom grazed yearlings on the leased ranch, and earns US$.40/pound. Profits are split 50/50 with the owner of the ranch. Those numbers really make a guy want to move to Mexico.

A True Island in the Sky After our day on El Muchacho, we headed a couple hours further south into the deserts of Chihuahua, then up a rugged oak studded canyon and onto a 7,000-foot (2,100-meter) plateau. Once on the plateau, we had entered a massive Mennonite community with a

Jesus Almeida’s cattle grazing in belly-deep native prairie grasses at the end of the summer growing season.

population of about 60,000. These Mennonites are farmers, not Fences Grow Grass ranchers. They believe in deep tillage, fallowing the ground to build The custom grazing operation has generated sufficient funds to soil moisture, monocultures, and everything else common to develop dozens of paddock subdivisions and abundant stock water. conventional agriculture. On the day we arrived, 50 mile per hour There are four grazing cells in a wagon wheel layout, with the water winds were whipping across the 100 percent bared earth of mid-March, source at the center and paddocks radiating out from there. Jesús and the skies were red with blowing silt. It was devastating to witness. carefully plans his grazing. During the We could literally watch the silt typically fast growth rates of July, August, accumulate in the road bed. But we and September (when 80 percent of the rain weren’t there to visit the Mennonites. We comes), recovery periods can contract down were on our way to the family ranch of to 40 days at times, but more typically are 60 Jesús Almeida, a lifelong rancher in the days. Most paddocks are grazed once, and district, and one of the last ten ranchers sometimes twice, during the three peak left in this sea of Mennonite farming. growth months. Jesús carefully assesses the Jesús’ grandfather moved to this plateau amount of forage on hand in the autumn to in the early 1900s, and with three partners make stocking rate adjustments going into put together 260,000 hectares (650,000 winter. acres). Over the years, most of the ranch Winters are typically snow free, but was sold to the Mennonites, who first they’re still cold and windy. Temperatures began colonizing the area in 1920. Today can get down to -22 C (-8 F). Because of the Jesús is left with the final remnant of his cold, the cattle need an average of about one family’s original holdings—about 35,000 kg (2.2 pounds.) of protein cake a day. It’s put acres (14,000 hectares)—and it literally is an out twice a week, and fed in the form of island in the midst of a transformed blocks. They try to plan to make the blocks landscape. The ranch is the last patch of available toward the end of the grazing intact native prairie for miles and miles. period in each pasture. In other words, if it’s It’s rolling country and dominated by a a 3-day grazing period, they put the blocks fantastic diversity of predominantly warmJesús with four of his children—Jesus Jr., Jose out toward the end of day two. This helps to season perennial grasses, mostly gramas.

Santiago, Teresa, and Juan Pablo. Wife Imelda stretch out the lower quality grass that’s left It’s not the blue grama/buffalo grass sod and the rest of the clan were in town the day after the good stuff is consumed. typical of North America’s short grass this photo was taken.

Has all this work paid off ecologically? prairie, however. It contains many of the Elco Blanco, a Holistic Management® same species, but instead of forming a sod Certified Educator based in the city of three inches tall, these grasses form a pasture sward that can Chihuahua, set up seven biological monitoring transects across the ranch grow waist deep. How much rain? Seventeen inches (430 mm) when the Almeidas began managing holistically 12 years ago. At that on average! time, seven perennial grasses were present in the transect areas. Today On our visit in March, which is toward the end of the dormant Elco Blanco counts 22! That’s over a 300 percent increase in species season, things weren’t quite so lush, but he showed us some photos diversity. Jesús says that in many areas of the ranch, overall productivity of the growing season that blew our socks off. The ranch also has increased 300 pecent as well (incidentally, Elco also monitors 10 contains several large areas that transition into an oak savanna. It’s transects for the Jeffers on Tapiecitas). This island of diversity is also not the sort of dense oak brush community common to many areas critical habitat for migrating songbirds, and that’s no exaggeration. With of the Southwest, but actual spaced-out oak trees growing among the nearly the entire neighboring landscape transformed by deep tillage, prairie grasses. these birds are really and truly dependent on the Almeidas remnant

Transitions Jesús and his wife, Imelda, began their holistic trek in the middle of a (you guessed it) crisis. Twelve years ago, says Jesús, “I was broke.”

With a heavy debt load and spiraling interest rates, the Almeidas felt swamped. Through creative debt restructuring and the eventual liquidation of most of their herd, they gradually climbed out of their financial crunch, and by 1999 were debt free, but also cattle free. To continue to utilize his grass, Jesús replaced the cattle he sold with custom-grazed outside cattle. In 2001, his stocking rate included 2,500 mother cows and 1,500 yearlings, and all but 350 cows were cattle grazed on contract. For a price of US$11 per animal unit month, Jesús makes all the grazing management decisions and provides all the labor, grass, salt, and water. The cattle owners decide when to bull, calve, wean, brand, etc., and which vaccines, wormers, etc. to use.

patch of prairie and oak woodlands. They are working with area ornithologists to ensure they are doing the best they can to manage for healthy migratory songbird habitat.

Our trip definitely transformed my view of northern Mexico.

Do barren, cactus-studded, depleted landscapes exist? Definitely.

Regrettably, they are more the norm than the exception. Northern Mexico has been hammered by horribly managed livestock. What we saw were the exceptions to the norm, but what’s encouraging is that these exceptions have solely resulted from the well-conceived, wellplaced efforts of normal human beings making holistic decisions. No big injections of money generated elsewhere, no government subsidies, no special treatment. Just ordinary folks who want to make a living on the land. These islands of abundance prove that the potential is not only enormous, but realistically attainable as well. Many thanks to all our hosts for your hospitality and sharing.

IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 LAND & LIVESTOCK

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Questions & Answers

like a great sponge, the soaks and springs and streams would have been much more numerous and in vastly different condition to that of today.

Even with the apparently low rainfall of much of your “West” (and Wild Herbivores and Water the same for much of Australia), it is still an enormous quantity of How were the millions of buffalo, and the millions of other water. Just imagine multiplying a few thousand acres by a depth of ruminants, that roamed the western U.S. years ago able to 10-15 inches (25-38 mm)! To get some idea, go and stand (not too close) get enough water? Obviously, no windmills, solar pumps, to a dry river/creek bed during and soon after a good thunderstorm. submersible pumps, etc. were installed for their use. They had to rely The difference between then and now is that with the ecosystem on what nature provided, namely streams, puddles, and perhaps the processes functioning effectively, much, if not most, of that rainfall was occasional natural lake, or playa as we call them in New Mexico. As absorbed by healthy living soil and its surface litter. Then over a longer dry as the West (at least New Mexico) is today, it is hard for me to period it was released through slowed run-off, seepage and plant understand how the land could support the huge population of transpiration. With the ecosystem processes severely damaged, as they animals that it apparently did. Of course, these animals flourished at are now, the majority of rainfall runs off, taking the small amount of a time before mesquite, salt cedar, snakeweed, creosote brush, etc. litter and large quantities of “topsoil” (if there is any left) with it. dominated to the extent they do today. Was it a wetter time, or has In Australia, the early explorers’ diaries describe a countryside that our use of the various aquifers and brush encroachment dried up the is very different to that which exists now, including reference to many natural water to such an extent that it is increasingly difficult to find springs and wetlands of varying sizes. And, those observations were water today? made after 40,000 odd Keith Long years of human-induced Bell Ranch, New Mexico deterioration (albeit slow and unintentional) by I do believe that native Australians. I’ve streams and heard other people refer to springs have similar evidence for Africa decreased significantly in as well, and I imagine the the last 100 years. On many West of the United States ranches that are several was the same. generations old, I’ve heard If these vast herds were numerous stories of streams constantly moving onto new running that are dry most ground, I can imagine that of the year now. In the arid while the herd might West—places like New completely drain a wetland Mexico, Wyoming, and in one day, by the next day, Montana—I don’t believe the they would be miles away Bison have the ability to travel long distances —at least 30 to 40 miles (50 to 65 bison migrated over the to drink from another, kilometers) between water sources. same routes each year. I possibly having crossed suspect bison avoided large several significant streams areas when no water was available, then during wet years they would in the meantime. Given that they wouldn’t be returning to that venture into those areas once again. I also think some of this migration water source for a long time, the healthy soil would be releasing was seasonal and they were able to live off of the snow. During really seepage water into that wetland for a sufficient amount of time dry periods, I suspect large numbers of bison perished. for it to recover.

We underestimate the bison’s ability to travel to water. I’ve worked This question puzzled me too, until I started to put together with several bison producers and they all have stories of chasing bison what three inches (12 mm), let alone 10-15 inches, of rain amounts to that have escaped. These animals can cover 25-30 miles in as short of when it is multiplied by thousands of acres, what I’ve seen in the time period as 24 hours. I suspect these animals could travel a couple “outback” after a good rain when almost all of it runs off instead of of days without water. So if you look at traveling 50-60 miles from one soaking in, and the descriptions of the explorers compared to the watering hole to another, it becomes more feasible to envision these same places now. large herds crossing the plains and foothills of the Rocky Mountains Steve Hailstone in search of food and water.

Adelaide, Australia Roland Kroos Bozeman, Montana I would reiterate everything that Roland and Steve have said. While I think surface water was certainly much more I imagine that in addition to the bison’s ability to cover long abundant just a few generations ago (for reasons that were distances, it also has something to do with the ecosystem well-explained by Steve), I also maintain that the animals present in processes functioning effectively. That is, with the animals these environments were much more adapted to making do without cycling huge quantities of plant matter, and with soils alive and acting water than our domestic herbivores.

Q:

a:

a:

a:

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Many of the wild herbivores (surviving and extinct) across the world are/were extremely tolerant of a lack of surface water. Many gazelle species in Africa and Asia never have to drink water at all.

I’ve seen African oryx, or gemsbok, and springbok in the middle of the Namib Desert in The African oryx, or gemsbok, is capable of western Namibia, surviving extended periods without surface where no surface water, deriving moisture solely from plant water existed for tissues. Many other antelope species display possibly hundreds similar adaptations. of miles. From the window of our vehicle, there wasn’t even anything apparent that they could have been eating to sustain their body moisture. Nonetheless, they were fat and healthy. They were supremely adapted to their environment.

It appears that most herbivores that fill the extremely dry grassland habitat niches across the world display a similar adaptation.

In western North America, the few surviving species present when the first Europeans arrived represent only a small sample of what was here on the order of 10,000 years ago, when the first immigrants from Siberia arrived on the scene. In addition to the surviving pronghorn we still have, ten other species of pronghorn were present across the West, as were six species of western camel.

There is no way to prove this (I don’t think), but I suspect at least some of these extinct herbivores probably filled similar niches to the gazelles and oryx of the Old World that can survive without water.

Also, even domestic herbivores can be conditioned to survive on a lot less water than we think they need, or at least on less frequent access to water. Ranchers in Namibia are herding cattle a day out from water, grazing a full day, then returning to the water point after two days without drinking, with no ill effects. The animals just have to learn a new program. On the High Lonesome Ranch that Daniela and I managed in New Mexico, we used our rugged mountain pastures during the winter months. They had no water up high, but the cattle would rim out for several days at a time before coming back to the water point down at the base of the mountains. The cool weather of winter helped make such behavior possible.

Wild herbivores no doubt also use/used areas that were further from water during the cool times of the year, or as Roland says, stayed out of areas altogether until favorable weather conditions allowed ephemeral springs and creeks to flow. This also happened one wet winter at the High Lonesome. Nine inches of rain from November to February allowed small streams to run all the way into June! Thousands and thousands of water-dependent herbivores could have been in that part of New Mexico for those few

months, but they would have had to migrate somewhere else for several years before those conditions returned again.

Jim Howell Montrose, Colorado

Q:

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

I just read about a new fencing and stockwater development cost share program through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), but even though I could really use the money, I’m afraid my land plan isn’t developed to the point that I’m ready to finalize things and apply for the financial assistance. Should I jump in and hope for the best, or take my time and make sure I truly have the best plan in place before I commit to implementation? What do I need to consider before thinking about taking money from the government?

a:

Many landowners will forge ahead in these circumstances without considering the full consequences because they are in need of money or because of other outside considerations.

Unfortunately, such plans developed in a short time period have resulted in numerous challenges for landowners, as well as for NRCS staff. But if you follow the Holistic Management process and know how the system works, you can avoid most of the pitfalls of entering into a contract with the federal government.

The key principles are: ❐ Plan ahead. Start the planning process way before considering applying for cost share from the government. This may take as little as one year or over five years depending on your situation.

For example, your land planning may take several years before you determine the ideal layout for infrastructure that will help you move toward your holistic goal. In the planning stages you need to consider NRCS and Conservation District staff as a resource that can help you evaluate resource concerns on your property and provide a different perspective on ways to address your specific resource concerns. Whether or not you implement their recommendations will be determined by testing the decisions toward your holistic goal. ❐ Relationship building. You need to develop a relationship with at least one of the NRCS or Conservation District staff at the local office. One way to help build the relationship is to include the person in your brainstorming sessions in land and financial planning. This allows the NRCS staff person to become familiar with your whole as well as provide you with an opportunity to learn what NRCS requirements are for addressing the resource concerns on your land.

If you choose to enter into a contract with the government, your relationship with the NRCS representative will change. He/she shifts from being in your resource base to a key decision maker once you sign that contract. Will you be comfortable with that change in the relationship? Is the person you are working with someone that you feel comfortable entering into partnership with for the duration of the contract (five to ten years)? You also will want to consider that he/she may leave and you will have to develop a relationship with a new person.

IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002

continued on page 14

LAND & LIVESTOCK

13

Questions & Answers continued from page 13 ❐ Flexibility. Is there enough flexibility in the cost-share program that will allow the plan to be changed if the situation in your whole changes within the contract time frame? The implementation schedule for various projects can be changed quite easily but the practices within the plan are more difficult to change. It is critically important to take your time in the planning process. Learn what it would cost you if you had to cancel the contract so you can use that information when you are testing your decisions. ❐ Tool. You need to consider the cost-share programs as a tool to help implement a well thought out and tested plan. The cost share is a means of helping you create your holistic goal. It is not the objective.

types of holistic treatments are available? How effective are nonchemical treatments? I appreciate any feedback.

Tony Malmberg Lander, Wyoming

For the first time this past autumn, we did not use anything on our cows for lice control. The cows have lice right now (late winter, early spring) but they are all in good shape and the lice don’t seem excessive. As you know, lice are only a problem in the winter, and since it is now March 11, warmer weather is not too far off (even in Wyoming!).

I don’t really know what lice are a symptom of, but I do know people have had success culling the cows that need chemical lice treatment. This is what I plan to do also. My advice is that if the cows are doing fine otherwise, leave them alone.

Keith Long Bell Ranch, New Mexico These cattle on the High Lonesome Ranch in southwestern New Mexico were pretty lice-infested in the spring of 1995. Good winter A “consultant” I know rains brought abundant cool season annuals, and soon into the in Victoria, Australia green season, the lice were gone. suggests that lice are

a:

a:

❐ Testing. You need to know what needs to be accomplished on your land that will help you reach your holistic goal. Test the decision of entering into a government contract as well as all of the decisions within the contract.

a symptom of a lack of sulfur.

We’ve tried some sulfur licks but haven’t had any noticeable success.

We used to use a synthetic pyrethroid (which also is supposed to deter flies) but don’t use it any longer because (a) it’s a waste of money and (b) it results in dead dung A holistic land plan can take beetles. There’s nothing worse years to mature so make sure than a dead dung beetle except you have given yourself adequate possibly a post-digested one in This is how they looked the following October—slick and fat as pigs, time to evaluate the options a fox dropping. despite the lice from the previous spring, and despite no summer before entering into a long-term So, like Keith Long, we don’t precipitation after the annuals burned off in May . contract with the government. bother any longer. What seems Start slow and develop a good to happen is that a few of the working relationship with the cattle have pretty bad lice NRCS staff. Use them as a resource to help you create the plan that patches by the beginning of spring (usually the shorthorns and not the will allow your holistic goal to be created. Once your plan is in Herefords), but by the time summer comes the lice infections are gone. place, decide whether you want to take that relationship to the We also suspect that as the number of paddocks in the grazing cell next stage and enter into a long-term cost-share program. If the increase, the pick-up of lice infestations has decreased, possibly testing shows the cost-share program will help move you toward because potentially contagious, popular rubbing objects like old fence your holistic goal, then a government cost-share program may posts and trees, aren’t contacted for long periods—more paddocks mean be for you. faster moves and longer recovery times. We haven’t researched this Craig Madsen fully and would have to look more closely at the life cycle of lice to Edwall, Washington verify if this is really happening. It may just be that as herd health improves, so does tolerance/resistance to lice. As our number of I have a herd of 90 cows that have lice. I’m seeking paddocks has increased, so has our herd health. answers to any of the following questions: What are lice a John Brister symptom of? At what point must lice be treated? What Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia

Q:

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LAND & LIVESTOCK

IN PRACTICE #86

Savory Center Forum Confessions of a Navel-Gazer

T

he difference between a paradigm of parts and a paradigm of holism is superficially subtle, but the results are very significant. I Steve Hailstone struggled with getting my head around holism for a long time, largely because I was looking for the great blinding flash of enlightenment. I’ve learned that isn’t going to happen, but rather I will have incremental learning for the rest of my life— some small and some larger.

The benefits I’ve had from managing holistically have all come from those incremental shifts in understanding, because they impact the decisions I make, and thence my quality of life. The biggest one lately has been understanding myself as a whole rather than an accumulation of parts such as my roles, relationships, needs, desires, job, etc.

Through changing this paradigm I’ve become more effective with my decision-making.

Beyond Roles As most people who manage holistically learn, viewing things as made up of component parts that are distinct and sharply definable has given us amazing progress with technologies, but it has serious shortcomings as a way of understanding the ecosystem and the living things within it (including people). I’ve observed that as an extension of this parts paradigm, we tend to categorize, classify and sharply define everything. This even flows through to the way we see ourselves and our societies.

For example, I often hear an adult ask a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The child’s response rarely goes outside a simple answer of some form of job, like “a doctor,” “a firefighter,” “a teacher,” etc.

The fact that the adult makes no reference to a “role” or a “job,” yet the child understands the question to be precisely that, reflects the

strength of the paradigm that we have to be our job, or be our role and then behave and think according to that classification—at least in public.

I am not suggesting that we do not have jobs and roles that we need to fulfill. Rather these roles are merely the way we organize and coordinate and achieve what we need to for our collective well-being. The roles are the means to the end, not the end itself.

We are not our roles and jobs.

In my case, I have spent the last 24 years earning my living through landscaping. I used to think of myself as “being” a landscaper. I had roles attached to this job, such as employer, general manager, business partner. When I met new people, they’d ask, “what do you do?” I responded accordingly— ”I am a landscaper,” which reflected the way I saw myself; a bunch of roles whose identity was dependent not only, but in large part, on the job I had. But I am also a son, a brother, a friend, a neighbor, a creator, and an Australian. I have emotions and things I value. I enjoy good food and wine, and I’d like to dance more. I now see the parts paradigm as limiting my ability to fully live and contribute effectively, because I was dominated by thinking in terms of those roles and parts. “What hat am I wearing here” boxed and limited my creativity.

A Whole Within the Whole Ecosystem It seems that the dominant underlying paradigm of our existence as humans is that we are separate from nature. Having this paradigm, I used to feel guilty about my effects on an otherwise “pristine” nature. I have finally realized that even living in this society at this time with all this technology, we humans are still integral wholes within the greater whole that is the ecosystem of the earth.

I used to get bogged down with conflicting ideas on what was the “right” thing to do, especially with my land or my business. Through drafting my holistic goal to reflect my understanding of me as a whole (within the whole that is the ecosystem and society),

I can now make decisions more easily. I feel that I have a place and responsibility where I live. I no longer have the conflict of thinking on one hand “I have a right to be here,” and on the other of thinking of myself and the organisms I need to live comfortably as being foreign and not belonging in this land. Seeing myself as separate from nature, meant a whole bunch of unsolvable dilemmas.

Understanding myself as an integral whole within the whole of the ecosystem process, with no more and no less legitimacy than any other whole has freed up my creativity and decisions. I am now making great progress. My garden is becoming more and more beautiful. I have noticed increasing numbers and diversity in species of insects and birds particularly, but also some reptiles.

As it turns out, most of them are indigeneous!

The real estate value of my place is increasing because of that beauty and biodiversity, and because it is more easily maintained. I am working out and implementing strategies for producing foods and energy sources that give me the greatest marginal reaction. I also have more time for action and relaxation because I’m not bogged down in unsolvable dilemmas. And last, but certainly not least, the ecosystem process is improving here.

My self-esteem has also grown because I am now able to make decisions that I know are consistent with what I value most. This is quite different from behaving according to patterns and moralizing judgments that were expected with all those different roles, and thinking of myself as separate from but dependent upon the ecosystem.

Holistic Management has provided a very practical, grounded way of understanding myself as a whole and for sorting out how I want my life to be, and then how to go about achieving it through the decisions I make. It has and continues to be the most down-to-earth and non-prescriptive way of connecting my esoteric, spiritual, and big picture concerns with my everyday living.

Steve Hailstone Crafers, South Australia

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 15

Savory Center Bulletin Board Wyoming Walkabout e’d like to thank the Flocchini Family— Bud and Mary Lou, and John and Leslie—and Durham Ranches of Gillette, Wyoming for sponsoring a one-day “Walkabout with Allan Savory.” The group of 17 who attended this educational fundraiser for the Center was made up of folks from Wyoming and surrounding states eager to update their knowledge of Holistic Management, and to catch up with the Flocchinis and the progress they’ve made over the last 18 years on one of America’s premier (and holistically managed) bison ranches. After an early morning overview and update and a tasty bison lunch, the group walked into several paddocks, each of which told a different story and generated a lot of thoughtful discussion—on animal impact, paddock size, the challenges of bison handling,

W

drought planning, financial planning, and the increases the Flocchinis have experienced in production per acre. A late afternoon question and answer session and an update on where the Savory Center is headed rounded off a day of fun, learning, and renewed friendships.

International Celebration 2003 n International Rendezvous of the Holistic Management Community will be held on September 26, 27, 28, 2003 at Clint Josey’s LO Ranch in Leo, Texas (north of Dallas-Fort Worth and Denton). There will be onsite tent/RV camping (no hookups) or lodging in nearby communities.

This gathering will feature a variety of workshops offered by practitioners, educators, and others and a Saturday night talent show.

There will also be an opportunity to exhibit

A

In Memoriam

C

harles Probandt, a founding member and first president of the Savory Center’s Board of Directors died August 12 after a long battle with cancer. Charles was born in San Angelo, Texas in 1935 and spent most of his life there on the family ranch, with stints away as a ranger in Yellowstone National Park, at Texas Tech University, and then all over the U.S. as a leader of national, regional and local livestockand agriculture-related organizations. He is survived by his wife, Kathy, two children and three grandchildren.

The Savory Center, originally known as the Center for Holistic Resource Management, was formed in 1984 in Billings, Montana at a meeting of Allan Savory and some of his early supporters, including Charles, who, in accepting the position of president played a key role in the Center’s early growth. His commitment to the organization and our mission was deep and because of it he was able to kindle the enthusiasm of our earliest and longest supporters. We are all indebted to him. *** Two members who also attended that 1984 inaugural meeting in Montana with Charles have launched a Charles Probandt Memorial Fund . Clint Josey, of Dallas, Texas, served on our original Board of Directors with Charles.

Bill Mackay, of Custer, Montana, succeeded Charles as our second president. They have asked that the funds be used for scholarships. If you would like to join them in honoring Charles, please send your contributions to: The Savory Center, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, or fax: 505/843-7900.

Please note on your check or fax that the donation is for the Charles Probandt Memorial Fund .

16 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #86

and/or sell examples of your art or craft (handmade soaps, quilts, woodcarving, painting, etc.), and plenty of time to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. For further information contact Pat Richardson at patr@biosci.utexas.edu or 512/471-4128.

Annual Appeal y now, all of our readers should have received our yearly request for contributions to help the Savory Center achieve our objectives. Thanks, all of you who have already sent in your gifts. It makes our planning so much easier when contributions arrive before year’s end. With your help, we can move forward on all the exciting initiatives that have made this year so rewarding. Though we didn’t send requests to most of our international readers, please consider making a contribution the Savory Center, which you can submit on line at www.holisticmanagement.org or by fax at 505/843-7900 or phone at 505/842-5252.

B

So Long Charles . . .

In a 1985 issue of this publication (then known as The Savory Letter), Charles talked about why he was committed to seeing the Center succeed.

“Over about 20 years, while serving as a director of the Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers Association, I visited many ranches, field days and seminars and came to the conclusion that none of our current practices held the answers to the problems stockmen faced. We were not building soil; we were losing it and with it our carrying capacity. Stocking rates just kept going Charles Probandt, 1935 - 2002 down. There had to be a better way or the soil wouldn’t have been there when people first arrived.

“When I first heard of Allan Savory in 1978, I figured his family must own a wire manufacturing plant or at least that he received a commission on all the fence wire he must be selling. After visiting with Allan in January 1979, and learning that land could be improved with increased stocking rates (and that he had no wire company), I made arrangements for him to give a seminar in San Angelo during the annual meeting of the Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers. This seminar proved to be the best, most interesting and stimulating event we had ever held at a convention. It was my first real awareness that there was a better way.

“In the years since, I’ve been in constant contact with Allan and have seen what we initially called the Savory Grazing Method grow into something that covered a whole lot more than grazing. Today, I believe our knowledge of Holistic Resource Management is in the same stage of advancement as the aviation industry was when the Wright Brothers made their first flight. Through the efforts of the Center, we will advance the ‘technology’ of resource management, stimulate minds throughout the world, and reverse the trend toward desertification.”

And so we have and will continue to do. We’ll miss you, Charles. You were a kind, thoughtful and generous man, and you provided a special kind of leadership to this fledgling organization when we needed it most.

Savory Center Annual Report The Year in Review In conjunction with our network of supporters—our members, Certified Educators, practitioners, Advisory Board, Board of Directors, funders, donors, volunteers, and staff—the Savory Center made significant progress in 2001, and it continued on into 2002. The Board of Directors and staff want to thank everyone who has contributed to our success in achieving the following:

Outcomes in 2001 One of the big surprises in 2001 was the bequest of the West Ranch as a learning site for Holistic Management. While the estate transfer is not final, we have developed a contract with the executor to begin managing the ranch holistically. (The $847,114 listed as revenue in the pie chart on this page does not include the $3,913,051 from the West Estate Bequest or the $1,386,690 for the Ozona Ranch Learning Site.)

At the same time, we worked to expand the capacity of our U.S. Certified Educator Training Program by initiating the first of our SARE-sponsored (Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education) programs in the Northeastern U.S. We also took steps to further develop our International Training Program to support the current interest and efforts in Australia, Africa, and Mexico.

Through our work with the U.S. Forest Service at the National Learning Site in Idaho, we secured more than $200,000 first-year funding from the private and public sector to lay the groundwork for successful collaborations with a variety of government agencies, environmental groups, and citizens to more effectively manage the Lost River Watershed for the health of the land and the local community. We also worked with the U.S. Army, through our subsidiary, Land Renewal Inc., in a phytoremediation project at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona (using animal impact to help plants grow that can clean the soils of depleted uranium).

Rio Puerco/ Gibson project working with Navajo families in Western New Mexico. We also helped mid-Western farmers/ranchers develop conservation plans through our work with the Rural Legacy Foundation, and, under contract, assisted the Rocky Mountain Institute in the management of their Windstar lands in Colorado.

Our work with the Africa Centre for Holistic Management continues to go well with the 21st village bank just opening. Our land base has expanded to 20,000 acres under management and villagers are beginning to combine herds for more effective grazing planning.

We also began work to establish and seek funding for a wildlife, agriculture and environmental management college based at the Africa Centre.

Lastly, we continue in our efforts to revise the Holistic Management workbook into the new Holistic Management Handbook , currently slated to be published by Island Press at the end of 2003. This effort is in conjunction with increased documentation through case studies on the results people are achieving through Holistic Management. These case studies will be made available as we create them.

As you can see, we’ve been working hard in 2002. We are currently planning our objectives for 2003 and know that we will achieve them all with your help and support. To our members, donors, and other supporters, we thank you for the trust you have placed in us with your commitment and donations of time and money. We look forward to continuing to serve you and thank you for your continued support.

Audited Figures for Fiscal Year 2001 Revenue $847,114 Education Materials

Training & Education

Learning Sites

New Opportunities in 2002 In 2002 our Advisory Board has continued to increase its participation in the Savory Center’s annual fundraising campaign to achieve our income goals. We are working on expanding this board to 15 members and have cross-over from the Advisory Board with our Board of Directors. One of the biggest shifts that occurred in 2002 is the work we’ve done with philanthropy consultants, Durkin & Associates, to develop our new business plan and our work with major donors.

This year we initiated the second of our SARE-sponsored Certified Educator Training Programs—this time in the North Central U.S. We have also submitted a proposal to the Southeastern SARE for our 2003 Training Program. Lastly, we are completing the first year of our Ranch and Rangeland Manager Training Program and have initiated our second class, which is fully subscribed with 12 trainees.

We continued our work with the National Learning Site in Idaho this year, but the wildfires in much of the U.S. this summer made funding for this project a challenge, given that most of the funding was coming through the U.S. Forest Service. While we maintained our efforts there, we also increased our efforts locally through the Bernalillo County Open Space Project in Albuquerque and the

Outreach/ Overviews

Restricted Philanthropy —Training

Restricted Philanthropy —Africa

Unrestricted Philanthropy

Expenditures $797,080

U.S. Project Management

Outreach/ Overviews

International Project Management

Fund Development

Research Administrative Management

Educational Materials

Training & Education

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 17

Certified Educators To our knowledge, Certified Educators are the best qualified individuals to help others learn to practice Holistic Management and to provide them with technical assistance when necessary. On a yearly basis, Certified Educators renew their agreement to be affiliated with the Center. This agreement requires their commitment to practice Holistic Management in their own lives, to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management and to maintain a high standard of ethical conduct in their work.

For more information about or application forms for the U.S., Africa, or International Certified Educator Training Programs, contact Kelly Pasztor at the Savory Center or visit our website at www.holisticmanagement.org/wwo_certed.cfm?

These Educators provide Holistic Management instruction on behalf of the institutions they represent.

UNITED STATES ARIZONA Kitty Boice P.O. Box 745, Sonoita, AZ 85637 520/907-5574 KatieMackK@aol.com ARKANSAS Preston Sullivan P.O. Box 4483 Fayetteville, AR 72702 479/443-0609; 479/442-9824 (w) prestons@ncatark.uark.edu CALIFORNIA Monte Bell 325 Meadowood Dr., Orland, CA 95963 530/865-3246; mbell@glenncounty.net Julie Bohannon 652 Milo Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90042 323/257-1915 JoeBoCom@pacbell.net Bill Burrows 12250 Colyear Springs Rd. Red Bluff, CA 96080 530/529-1535; burrows@cwnet.com Jeff Goebel P.O. Box 1252, Willows, CA 95988 530/321-9855; 530/934-4601 x101 (w) goebel@palouse.net Richard King 1675 Adobe Rd. Petaluma, CA 94954 707/769-1490; 707/794-8692 (w) rking@ca.nrcs.usda.gov Christopher Peck P.O. Box 2286, Sebastopol, CA 95472 707/758-0171 ctopherp@holistic-solutions.net COLORADO Cindy Dvergsten 17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222; cindydv@reanet.net Rio de la Vista P.O. Box 777, Monte Vista, CO 81144 970/731-9659; riovista@rmi.net Daniela Howell 63066 Jordan Ct. Montrose, CO 81401 970/249-0353 howelljd@montrose.net

18 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #86

Tim McGaffic P.O. Box 476 Ignacio, CO 81137 310/821-4027; tim@timmcgaffic.com Chadwick McKellar 16775 Southwood Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80908 719/495-4641; cmckellar@juno.com Chandler McLay P.O. Box 262 Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-8802 mcchand@msn.com Byron Shelton 33900 Surrey Lane Buena Vista, CO 81211 719/395-8157; landmark@my.amigo.net IOWA Bill Casey

1800 Grand Ave. Keokuk, IA 52632-2944 319/524-5098 wpccasey@interl.net LOUISIANA Tina Pilione P.O. 923, Eunice, LA 70535 phone/fax: 337/580-0068 tinap@bbs.whodat.net MINNESOTA Terri Goodfellow-Heyer 4660 Cottonwood Lane N Plymouth, MN 55442 612/559-0099 terri.heyer@mrusa.com Larry Johnson RR 1, Box 93A Winona, MN 55987-9738 507/457-9511; 507/523-2171 (w) lpjohn@rconnect.com MONTANA Wayne Burleson RT 1, Box 2780 Absarokee, MT 59001 406/328-6808; rutbuster@montana.net Roland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862; KROOSING@aol.com

Cliff Montagne Montana State University Department of Land Resources & Environmental Science Bozeman, MT 59717 406/994-5079; montagne@montana.edu NEW MEXICO Ann Adams The Savory Center 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/842-5252 anna@holisticmanagement.org Kate Brown Box 581, Ramah, NM 87321 505/783-4711; kbrown@nedcomm.nm.org Amy Driggs 1131 Los Tomases NW Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/242-2787 adriggs@orbusinternational.com Kirk Gadzia P.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004 505/867-4685; fax: 505/867-0262 kgadzia@earthlink.net Ken Jacobson 12101 Menaul Blvd. NE, Ste A Albuquerque, NM 87112 505/293-7570; kbjacobson@orbusinternational.com Kelly Pasztor The Savory Center 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/842-5252; kellyp@holisticmanagement.org Sue Probart P.O. Box 81827 Albuquerque, NM 87198 505/265-4554 tnm@treenm.com David Trew 369 Montezuma Ave. #243 Santa Fe, NM 87501 505/751-0471 trewearth@aol.com Vicki Turpen 03 El Nido Amado SW Albuquerque, NM 87121 505/873-0473; mvt9357@aol.com NORTH CAROLINA Sam Bingham 394 Vanderbilt Rd. Asheville, NC 28803 828/274-1309 sbingham@igc.org NORTH DAKOTA Wayne Berry University of North Dakota—Williston, P.O. Box 1326, Williston, ND 58802 701/774-4269 or 701/774-4200 wayne.berry@wsc.nodak.edu OHIO Deborah Stinner Department of Entomology OARDC 1680 Madison Hill Wooster, OH 44691 330/202-3534 (w); stinner.2@osu.edu

OKLAHOMA Kim Barker RT 2, Box 67 Waynoka, OK 73860 580/824-9011 barker_k@hotmail.com OREGON Joel Benson 613 Fordyce St., Ashland, OR 97520 541/488-9630; ytka@jeffnet.org Cindy Douglas 2795 McMillian St. Eugene, OR 97405 541/465-4882; cdouglas@omri.org TEXAS Christina Allday-Bondy 2703 Grennock Dr. Austin, TX 78745 512/441-2019 tododia@peoplepc.com

Guy Glosson 6717 Hwy 380 Snyder, TX 79549 806/237-2554 cowdog@caprock-spur.com

WASHINGTON Craig Madsen P.O. Box 107, Edwall, WA 99008 509/236-2451; madsen2fir@centurytel.net

R.H. (Dick) Richardson University of Texas at Austin Department of Integrative Biology Austin, TX 78712 512/471-4128 d.richardson@mail.utexas.edu Peggy Sechrist 25 Thunderbird Rd. Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830/990-2529; peggy@fgb.net

Sandra Matheson 228 E. Smith Rd. Bellingham, WA 98226 360/398-7866; smm1@ gte.net Don Nelson Washington State University P.O. Box 646310, Pullman, WA 99164 509/335-2922 nelsond@wsu.edu Lois Trevino P.O. Box 615, Nespelem, WA 99155 509/634-4410; 509/634-2430 (w) lmerita@televar.com

Liz Williams 4106 Avenue B Austin, TX 78751-4220 512/322-2933 evwilliams@austin.rr.com

Doug Warnock 151 Cedar Cove Rd, Ellensburg, WA 98926 509/925-9127 warnockd@elltel.net

INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA Helen Carrell “Hillside” 25 Weewondilla Rd. Glennie Heights, Warwick, QLD 4370 61-4-1878-5285; 61-7-4661-7383 helenc@upfrontoutback,com Steve Hailstone 5 Lampert Rd., Crafers, SA 5152 61-4-1882-2212 shailstone@internode.on.net Graeme Hand 162 Hand and Associates Port Fairy, VIC 3284 61-3-5568-2158 gshand@hotkey.net.au Mark Gardner P.O. Box 1395, Dubbo, NSW 2830 61-2-6882-0605 gardnerm@ozemail.com.au Brian Marshall “Lucella”; Nundle, NSW 2340 61-2-6769 8226; fax: 61-2-6769 8223 bkmrshl@northnet.com.au Bruce Ward P.O. Box 103, Milsons Pt., NSW 1565 61-2-9929-5568; fax: 61-2-9929-5569 blward@holisticresults.com.au Brian Wehlburg c/o “Sunnyholt”, Injue, QLD 4454 61-7-4626-7187 ijapo2000@yahoo.com CANADA Don and Randee Halladay Box 2, Site 2, RR 1, Rocky Mountain House, AB T0M 1T0; 403/729-2472 donran@telusplanet.net Noel McNaughton 3438 Point Grey Rd., Vancouver, BC, V6R 1A5 604/736-1552; noelm@telus.net Len Pigott Box 222, Dysart, SK SOH 1HO 306/432-4583 JLPigott@sk.sympatico.ca

Kelly Sidoryk Box 374; Lloydminster, AB, S9V 0Y4 403/875-4418 higain@telusplanet.net CHINA/GERMANY Dieter Albrecht Melanchthonstr. 23, D-10557 Berlin 49-30-392 8315 alialb@gmx.net (international) China Agricultural University CIAD Office, Beijing 100094 86-10-6289 1061 GHANA Arne Vanderburg U.S. Embassy, Accra, Dept. of State Washington, D.C. 20521-2020 233-21-772131; 233-21-773831 (w) asvanderb@hotmail.com MEXICO Ivan Aguirre La Inmaculada Apdo. Postal 304, Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 52-637-78929; fax: 52-637-10031 rancho_inmaculada@yahoo.com Elco Blanco-Madrid Cristobal de Olid #307, Chihuahua Chih., 31030 52-14-415-3497; fax: 52-14-415-3175 elco-blanco@hotmail.com

NEW ZEALAND John King P.O. Box 3440, Richmond, Nelson 64-3-544-0369 Joking@clear.net.nz SOUTH AFRICA Johan Blom P.O. Box 568, Graaf-Reinet 6280 27-49-891-0163 j&tblom@eastcape.net Ian Mitchell-Innes P.O. Box 52, Elandslaagte 2900 27-36-421-1747 blanerne@mweb.co.za Norman Neave Box 141, Mtubatuba 3935 27-35-5504150 norboom@saol.com Dick Richardson P.O. Box 1806, Vryburg 8600 tel/fax: 27-53-927-4367 judyrich@cybertrade.co.za ZIMBABWE Mutizwa Mukute PELUM Association Regional Desk P.O. Box MP 1059 Mount Pleasant, Harare 263-4-74470/744117 fax: 263-4-744470 pelum@mail.pci.co.zw

Manuel Casas-Perez Calle Amarguva No. 61, Lomas Herradura Huixquilucan, Mexico City CP 52785 52-558-291-3934; 52-588-992-0220 (w)

Liberty Mabhena Spring Cabinet P.O. Box 853, Harare 263-4-210021/2; 263-4-210577/8 fax: 263-4-210273

NAMIBIA Gero Diekmann P.O. Box 363, Okahandja 9000 264-62-518091 nam00132@mweb.com.na

Sister Maria Chiedza Mutasa Bandolfi Convent P.O. Box 900, Masvingo 263-39-7699, 263-39-7530

Wiebke Volkmann P.O. Box 182, Otavi, 067-23-44-48; keilberg@mweb.com.na

Elias Ncube P. Bag 5950, Victoria Falls 263-3-454519 rogpachm@africaonline.co.zw

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2002 19

Local Networks

There are several branch organizations or groups affiliated with the Center in the U.S. and abroad (some publish their own newsletters.) We encourage you to contact the group closest to you:

United States CALIFORNIA Holistic Management of California Tom Walther, newsletter editor 5550 Griffin St., Oakland, CA 94605 510/530-6410 tagjag@ aol.com COLORADO Colorado Branch of the Center For Holistic Management Jim and Daniela Howell newletter editors 1661 Sonoma Court, Montrose, CO 81401 970/249-0353 howelljd@montrose.net GEORGIA Constance Neely SANREM CRSP 1422 Experiment Station Rd. Watkinsville, GA 30677 706/769-3792 cneely@arches.uga.edu IDAHO National Learning Site Linda Hestag 3743 King Mountain Rd. Darlington, ID 83255 208/588-2693; mackay@atcnet.net

MONTANA Beartooth Management Club Wayne Burleson RT 1, Box 2780, Absarokee, MT 59001 406/328-6808rutbuster@montana.net NEW YORK Regional Farm & Food Project Tracy Frisch, contact person 148 Central Ave., 2nd floor Albany, NY 12206 518/427-6537 USDA/NRCS - Central NY RC&D Phil Metzger, contact person 99 North Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815 607/334-3231, ext. 4 phil.metzger@ny.usda.gov NORTHWEST Managing Wholes Peter Donovan 501 South St., Enterprise, OR 97828-1345 541/426-2145 www.managingwholes.com OKLAHOMA Oklahoma Land Stewardship Alliance Charles Griffiths Route 5, Box E44, Ardmore, OK 73401 580/223-7471; cagriffith@brightok.net

Africa Centre for Holistic Management (A subsidiary of the Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management since 1992) Board of Trustees

Staff

Allan Savory, Chair Ignatius Ncube, Vice Chair Chief D. Shana II Chief A. Mvutu Chief B.W. Wange Chief D. Nelukuba Chief S.R. Nekatambe Councilor J. Ndubiwa Mary Ncube Lot Ndlovu Emeldah Nkomo (Staff Representative) Elias Ncube (Staff Representative) Osmond Mugweni - Masvingo Hendrik O’Neill - Harare Sam Brown, Austin, Texas, ex-officio

Huggins Matanga, Director Elias Ncube, Community Programmes Manager Emeldah Nkomo, Village Banking Coordinator Forgé Wilson, Office Manager Sylvia Nyakujawa, Bookkeeper Dimbangombe Ranch and Conservation Safaris: Roger Parry, Manager Trish Pullen, Assistant Manager, Catering Richard Nsinganu, Assistant Manager, Safaris Albert Chauke, Ranch Foreman

20 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #86

PENNSYLVANIA Northern Penn Network Jim Weaver, contact person RD #6, Box 205 Wellsboro, PA 16901 717/724-7788 jaweaver@epix.net

TEXAS HRM of Texas Peggy Jones, newsletter editor 101 Hill View Trail Dripping Springs, TX 78620 512/858-4251 delphic@earthlink.net

International AUSTRALIA Holistic Decision Making Association (AUST+NZ) Irene Dasey, Executive Officer P.O. Box 543 Inverell NSW, 2360 tel: 61-2-6721-0255 idasey@hn.ozemail.com.au CANADA Canadian Holistic Management Lee Pengilly Box 216, Stirling, AB, T0K 2E0 403/327-9262 MEXICO Fundación para Fomentar el Manejo Holístico, A.C. Jose Ramon Villar, President Zeus 921, Contry La Escondida,

Guadalupe, NL 67173 tel/fax: 52-8-349-8666 fmh@prodigy.net.mx NAMIBIA Namibia Centre for Holistic Management Anja Denker, contact person P.O. Box 23600 Windhoek 9000 tel/fax: 264-61-230-515 unicorn@iafrica.com.na SOUTH AFRICA South African Centre For Holistic Management Dick & Judy Richardson P.O. Box 1806, Vryburg 8600 tel/fax: 27-53-9274367 judyrich@cybertrade.co.za

Come Visit Us! AT DIMBANGOMBE

We Offer: • Guided Bush Walks • Horseback Tours • Game-Viewing Drives • Anti-Poaching Patrol Experience • And much more!

In an unforgettable setting with comfy lodging, memorable meals

Private Bag 5950 Victoria Falls Zimbabwe

Roger Parry Email: rogpachm@africaonline.co.zw Tel. (263)(11)213 529

www.africansojourn.com