Thirteen area ranchers are running their cattle in common on the Matador as part of a cooperative grazing program that helps both ranchers and wildlife.

The program evolved in 2002 after the area had suffered from three years of severe drought, and ranchers were facing selling off their herds if they didn’t find grazing.

They found grass at the Matador. The program helped the ranchers rest their drought-weary ranchlands, and helped the Conservancy develop positive relations among neighbors.

“We are real pleased with this opportunity,” one of the ranchers, Dale Veseth, said at the time.. “This has made a huge difference in this community… When you help feed families and cows, they’ll remember.”

Now in 2006, the program is evolving into a more formal “grass-banking” program, a concept developed in the southern Rockies on The Animas Foundation’s Gray Ranch. Here’s how it works: In exchange for reductions in grazing fees, the ranchers agree to conservation practices on their home ranches. The agreements secure habitat protection for thousands of prairie dogs and sage grouse; control weeds and establish a noxious weed-free zone over thousands of acres; and prevent plowing of native prairie during the lease period.

The ranchers in the program are also seeking certification through the Undaunted Stewardship program. To qualify, they develop grazing plans and agree to good stewardship practices their ranches.

This collaboration between the Conservancy, family ranchers and public agencies is yielding significant conservation across several hundred thousand acres of the most important remaining habitat for grassland birds, prairie dogs and sage grouse.