Half Public, Half Private, One West: Innovation and Opportunity Across Boundaries
From January 13-15, 2005, over five hundred people - a new record - packed the Albuquerque Hilton to learn, listen, and shake hands as part of our Fourth Annual Conference. Divided in thirds between ranchers, conservationists, and state and federal land managers, attendees came from places as distant as California, Washington, Montana, even Canada.

The speakers were a diverse crowd as well, coming from ranches, agencies, and universities as far away as Mississippi, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., South Africa, and Albuquerque's Valley High School! Topics ranged from goats to birds, to a history of private property, to getting along with predators, to making a profit in the cattle business, to the Buddha.

In one Conference highlight (of many), we were honored to have Allan Nation join us on Friday as our keynote speaker. Nation, a widely sought-after lecturer and teacher, publishes the Stockman Grass Farmer, which focuses on management-intensive grassland enterprises around the world.

We were also honored to be joined by Senator Pete Domenici, who encouraged the audience to 'think big' when looking at natural resource issues. Impressed by the diversity in the the room (we had a show of hands), Domenici expressed his support for any effort that was inclusive, including The Quivira Coalition.

In 2005, we expanded the Conference to include two all-day symposiums on Thursday, prior to the start of the main event. One was a Range School and the other was an in-depth exploration of the idea of 'water-banking' - storing water in streambanks (where it would be naturally) instead of in reservoirs. Both events were well attended - the Range School drew 100 people and the 'water-banking' symposium drew over 150.

The Conference began in earnest Thursday evening with a lively look at the 'major possibilities' of minor breeds of livestock around the nation. We were honored to have the event organized and hosted by award-winning author and heritage foods advocate Dr. Gary Nabhan, Director of the Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University.

Conference sessions on Friday and Saturday included: Keeping the Family in Ranching, Working with Predators, Managing Landcapes Collaboratively, Safe Harbor Agreements, Virtual Fencing, Ranching from Scratch, How to Start a Watershed Group, and more.

By all measures, the Conference was a big success. One reviewer put it this way on an evaluation form: "I loved the diversity of the speakers and their backgrounds. I believe this is one of the things that keeps bringing people back to these conferences - even if you don't agree with all the ideas, you are stimulated."

Another respondent said, "I will use things from this conference. I have many opportunities to do things differently on my ranch, from grazing to noxious weed control."

For more information on the 4th Annual Conference view the 2005 Annual Report.