Birkenstocks and Stetsons

...Now that I live in western Colorado, where I continue to be conscious of my outsider status, I've begun to notice the stereotypes Easterners have about the West. A recent cover story in the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor, “The Green Cowboys,” caught my attention because it tries to disprove a certain Eastern stereotype of ranchers as rough, uneducated, gun-toting dudes who don’t care much for environmentalism. But by spending so much time detailing how a new generation of “green cowboys” differs from the old-timers, the reporter only perpetuates the stereotype. And in focusing only on newer sustainable cattle ranches, the magazine misses an opportunity to place new guys in their historical context, as members in a decades-long succession of progressive rangers.  But High Country News readers know that for decades, ranchers—and not just those with Birkenstocks—have been experimenting with environmentally-sound practices like rotational grazing and stream restoration. In the late 1950s, a ten gallon hat-wearing Texan named Sid Goodloe bought an eroded, abused ranch in south-central New Mexico and embarked on a multi-decade quest to restore the ecosystem—and make a living. He was following the vision of Allan Savory, a Zimbabwean game warden whose holistic approach to cattle ranching inspired many western ranchers to ditch the open range in favor of regimented rotational grazing. Over the course of 40 years, Goodloe slowly brought native grasses back to the land, restored the watershed and creek on his property and increased the number of cattle the land could support. Others have followed suit, including Oregon ranchers Doc and Connie Hatfield. Using similar techniques, the couple helped found the Country Natural Beef co-op, and began marketing their largely grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free beef in the mid 1980s...more