After sculpting a perfectly designed-in-the-dirt ergonomic chair under a thicket of Douglas-fir regrowth, I reached into my saddlebags for a quick bite to eat. The living green conifer shade I had found to enjoy my lunch under somehow escaped the fate of most of the blackened skeleton forest around …
Knapping that Weed in the Bud
Through the insufferable boil of rolling dust I looked up and spotted daughter Melanie. She had showed up in our badly warped game of leapfrogging our way on foot down remote forested roads and had mustered all the strength she had to continue the struggle about 20 feet down the steep slope. She …
Cows, Concrete, and Carbon
Soil Carbon Coalition founder, Peter Donovan, after giving a conference lecture on soil health, stepped out of the conference room. Before he could think about coffee or the restroom, a farmer stopped him in the hallway. "What is the fastest way to get carbon into my soils?" Peter thought for a …
The Echo of Bison
Dear Friends and Partners You could feel them with your back against the black prairie earth before you saw them, and even before you heard them. All else was silent, except for the occasional song of a prairie warbler. A stunning dome of cloudless blue azure sky filled your vision beyond the …
Secret in the Soil
"Take the hotwire fence around that area of tall grass," I told Darrin and Steff. They would be in charge of the 550 head of finish beeves in two days when the cattle were herded from the north side of the ranch. They would be brought on hoof, herded again by riders on horseback, trailing in a long …
A Beaver’s Tale
Dear Friends and Partners As we made our way through the switchbacks cut into the rock pasted against the cliffy bluffs, the crystal clarity of the Salmon River rolled lazily by below. An orange sun worked its way down to the horizon. Like us, I think the sun may be getting tired of forest fire …