The Shoesole Team Summer Tour Recap
Dry Creek Boies Ranch
The Shoesole Resource Management Team is a collaborative, consensus-based group, working on natural resource management, devoted to sustaining healthy and productive public and private landscapes and keeping the family ranches involved economically resilient. The team is made up of three family ranching operations in Northeastern Nevada as well as Federal and State land and wildlife agency partners and members of the interested public. The ranches involved include Cottonwood Ranch, Boies Ranch, and the Home Ranch.
This year due to the COVID-19 virus the yearly summer tour for Shoesole, scheduled for June 8 & 9 had a change in format. The group embraced technology and held a virtual tour that highlighted the group’s past accomplishments, current resource concerns, and what the group hopes to focus on moving forward. While zoom is no substitute for field tours this format allowed for agency partners still under regulation and interested parties normally too far away to attend. Moving forward, the team will work to combine the benefits of technology into field tours. To watch recordings of the tour, go to www.neecd.org/shoesole. Each ranch discussed widely different, but important topics during the tour. The morning began with the Shoesole circle which is one of its keys to success. While not the normal circle, attendees introduced themselves, who they represented, and their expectations for the meeting. Member Robin Boies stated “meeting in the circle is symbolic of inclusion, a space where respectful listening is cultivated. It’s uncomfortable not having tables, barriers, just sitting in your chair in the circle, all the props eliminated.” Cottonwood ranch addressed the riparian area improvements, the result of over 20 years of Holistic Resource Management on the ranch. Cottonwood’s presentation also highlighted its current project to improve low production flood irrigated native hay meadows. In partnership with NRCS, the Smiths are converting flood irrigation to a center pivot system. The project also focuses on building a functioning and healthy soil system; the first step will be planting a cover crop.
Home Ranch Black Mountain spring project
The Boies Ranch was able to provide aerial footage of Dry Creek showing the substantial improvements that have been made. Dry Creek’s riparian areas are on an upward trend with regenerative Aspen colonies and increases in beaver dams, stream stability, water storage, and improved Red Band Trout habitat. The collaborative process has enhanced communication, trust, partnership building, on the ground improvement, and helped the Boies family attain successful results in their 2011 Hubbard/Vineyard permit renewal. Home ranch highlighted their success with targeted cheatgrass grazing. With their practices, the cattle now seek out and graze the cheatgrass when it is young keeping it cropped short. The Uhart’s also highlighted an important project on public lands they are hoping to move forward with. The protection of a spring on Black Mountain. This an important water source for livestock and wildlife but without the ability the protect the spring there are has been and will continue to degradation on the system. They wrapped up the presentation highlighting a successful irrigation project in conjunction with FSA that has greatly improved the bank stability of their irrigation system. The tour proved, as always, to be a great time for discussion and consensus making. Everyone is looking forward to the projects currently underway and proposed projects under review.
Cottonwood hay meadows before the revitalization project began.
www.progressiverancher.com
The Progressive Rancher
JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 35