Montana Welcomes Back the Prairie Grass
A new grazing program will help improve soil health and forage for cattle and sequester carbon to mitigate the effects of climate change
Photo Caption: Roger Indreland of Indreland Angus demonstrates the use of a penetrometer to measure the compaction of the soil which can be an indication of soil quality. Indreland is one of the four ranchers enrolled in the initial phase of the Montana Improved Grasslands Project. Credit: Jon Sepp
BIG TIMBER, MONTANA — July 17, 2019 — Dylan Hoffman, Director of Sustainability for Xanterra Travel Collection, which manages Yellowstone National Park Lodges, left a board meeting of Western Sustainability Exchange earlier this year and paused to take in the panoramic view of Roger Indreland’s cattle ranch north of Big Timber, Montana.
"It is absolutely an idyllic landscape," he says, "It doesn't look like a working cattle ranch. It looks like native grassland landscape."
Hoffman's view in many ways was a glimpse back into centuries past when bison roamed Montana grasslands, and the ecosystem was in balance, flourishing.
Indreland is one of four ranchers participating in a 35,000-acre project to improve soil health and forage for cattle, and sequester carbon in the soil to help mitigate the effects of climate change. Hoffman got interested in the idea through his work with Western Sustainability Exchange, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the best of the West — farming and ranching heritage, wide open spaces, and wildlife habitat — all while strengthening rural economies. The project was launched this year by WSE, Xanterra, and NativeEnergy, a pioneering carbon offset provider.
Pull-quote: “As part of what’s called the Montana Improved Grazing Project, the ranchers agree to implement sustainable management practices, notably high intensity, rapid rotational grazing.”
As part of what’s called the Montana Improved Grazing Project, ranchers agree to implement science-based sustainable management practices, notably high intensity, rapid rotational grazing. That means cattle graze in temporary pastures as small as 25 acres for short periods, then those grasses are left undisturbed for a year or longer. The effect, Hoffman notes, is to mimic how migrating bison foraged on the grasslands for 100,000 years.
"They are hitting it hard and grazing it the way those grasses have evolved to be grazed and then letting it sit, just like it would when there were herds of wild bison roaming the West," he adds.
The program is the first of its kind in the US, and has huge potential. 41% of land in the lower 48 states is used for livestock pasture and feed. Globally, livestock and related land-use changes account for 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research indicates that grasslands may be even more effective than forests at sequestering carbon, a driver of climate change and its disruptive consequences. Further, the program helps restore a damaged ecosystem. In the past 200 years, some cattle ranching has caused over-grazing, resulting in increased bare ground, erosion, loss of perennial grasses, reduced capacity to hold water and, ultimately, lower productivity for ranchers.
Through NativeEnergy's program, called Help Build, ranchers receive training and funding for improvements such as fencing and water infrastructure so they can increase the number of pastures, decrease their size, and increase the speed of cattle rotations. That means more grassland is rested, giving it a chance to recover. Without the influx of cash at the project's start, ranchers are unlikely to make the investment to change their practices, according to Jeff Bernicke, Native Energy's President. "There needs to be financing for ranchers," he says.
About five years after the program begins, NativeEnergy will have an independent third party measure the carbon sequestered in the soil. Ranchers are paid based on the amount of sequestered carbon credits their land yields. A key component is that ranchers commit to the program for 30 years, Bernicke says. Changing practices for just a year here or a year there doesn't have a lasting environmental impact. Committing to them for three decades does. "We need to make sure they have skin in the game," he adds.
The advantages to ranchers go beyond another source of income. They benefit from the increased productivity of the land. More forage means ranchers don't have to buy as much hay. Healthier grasslands mean they can increase the density of their stock. In addition, they can sell their beef as sustainably raised. And, over time, the value of their land increases.
Restoring grasslands bordering the park has advantages beyond the ranches. The elk, mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, wolves, trout, and other species throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem will benefit from improved habitat. So will the local communities that depend on ranching, tourism, and outdoor recreation.
"This Help Build model is that much more powerful because what we're doing is creating something that has a tangible impact not just globally or nationally, but here locally," Hoffman says.
For Xanterra, the program helps shrink its carbon footprint and supports ranchers who are Yellowstone's neighbors. The company's key sustainability goals include reducing its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 50 percent by 2025 compared to a 2014 baseline. While Xanterra has added solar arrays, recycling and composting programs, and energy and water efficiency projects, increased visitation at its properties means emissions are rising. Purchasing carbon offsets from companies like NativeEnergy provides a solution and this program is allowing Xanterra to offset the carbon emissions for 100% of its fossil fuel based electricity in Yellowstone.
Xanterra is already committed to providing guests with more environmentally friendly food options - buying 60 percent either locally or through certified sustainable suppliers. The NativeEnergy program allows the company to go a step further by connecting the dots between sustainable food, local ranching, and mitigating the impacts of climate change "It is a perfect program for us," Hoffman says. "It really checks all the boxes."
"It's amazing to see the work you're doing have an impact on preserving this landscape, preserving a lifestyle, and ultimately creating quality, sustainable beef products that we can serve to our visitors," he adds. "It was very powerful to see it in person. You can see the tangible difference you're making in the world."
###
I have had the opportunity to engage on the issue of CTE with a range of business groups, including regional and local chamber officials.
Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up for your own updates.
In this post, ExcelinEd’s Managing Director of Innovation Policy Quentin Suffren identifies three ways the business community can improve student pathways. Enjoy!
Over the past year, I have had the pleasure and opportunity to engage on the issue of career and technical education (CTE) with a range of business groups, including regional and local chamber officials. At every occasion, I was impressed by participants’ desire and commitment to partner with their local schools and postsecondary institutions to help develop pathways that lead to in-demand, middle and higher wage occupations. Their passion for this work is a clear reminder that business and industry are vital to the what, how and why of robust student pathways.
Policymakers and educators at the K-12 and postsecondary levels need business and industry voices to help inform which pathways and occupations are in-demand now—and which ones will be in-demand 5-10 years from now. While this may seem obvious, the result of knowing “the what” often means change. This could mean transforming pathways where students cut hair, prepare food or learn basic first aid into opportunities for learners to program machines, manage teams and businesses or practice more advanced medical procedures.
In addition to informing those pathways, business and industry can provide the much-needed external cover and pressure to make these hard changes in schools, districts and postsecondary programs. On the employer side, the business community needs to ensure that the signals to education systems are clear and unequivocal when it comes to desired competencies and credentials.
Image Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
While schools and two-year colleges have long managed the coursework and training students pursue in career pathways, educators are typically the last to learn about updates in industry practices, technology and required competencies. Strong business and industry partnerships can provide regular reviews and updates to curricula and pedagogy, access to the latest equipment and processes as well as experiences in work-based learning.
Talk to any principal or dean, and they will tell you about their challenges to identify, hire and retain industry professionals as CTE teachers. A critical piece of business and industry’s role is to help retrain or upskill existing teachers—to ensure they know HOW to best prepare students for career success and advancement over time.
While the what and how are largely intuitive, the business community can and should play a primary role in communicating why it is so important to develop high-quality CTE pathways. And the answer is not just “jobs.” The most forward-looking business leaders want a well-trained workforce—one that can do more than just fill open positions. These leaders are looking for a workforce that possesses the knowledge and skills to adapt and grow within and across occupations over time.
CTE is not a jobs program; it is a sequence of rigorous education and training that can help provide a lifetime of economic mobility for families and build long-term prosperity for states, regions and cities.
High-quality CTE includes postsecondary study and attainment, rigorous coursework and relevant occupational experiences. Put simply, it is an integral investment in talent, the future and possibility. One of the business community’s key responsibilities is to continually remind and cajole education systems of this fact. CTE must aim higher than low-skill, low-paying and dead-end pathways.
As many business leaders have shared with me, developing and sustaining cross-sector partnerships that include education systems and the business community is hard work. Yet high-quality CTE programs require them—particularly if schools and postsecondary institutions are going to get the what, how and why of student pathways right.
View this content in the brief The Role of the Business Community in Improving Student Pathways.
