In the spring of 2004, Bill deBuys approached The Quivira Coalition with an offer to purchase the Valle Grande Grass Bank (now called the Rowe Mesa Grassbank to avoid confusion with the other Valle Grande) - a combination of private property and a federal permit for livestock grazing on forest lands on Rowe Mesa, located thirty miles east of Santa Fe.

Bill created the innovative Grass Bank in 1997 when he pulled together a collaborative team that included The Conservation Fund, the Forest Service, the Northern New Mexico Stockmans' Association and the County Extension Service. The goal of the Grass Bank is to provide forage for livestock in exchange for a tangible conservation benefit - thinning and prescribed fire on the federal forests, in this case. It is literally "grass in the bank" for conservation and economic use.

The idea of a Grass Bank originated with the Malpai Borderlands Group in southwestern New Mexico. Today there are half a dozen Grass Banks operating around the West, mostly on private land owned by The Nature Conservancy. The Valle Grande "experiment," however, is still the only federal lands grass bank in the country.

Eight years after its inception, the "experiment" has proven to be a successful one. Despite the usual up and downs associated with managing land, including drought and perpetual infrastructure headaches, the Rowe Mesa Grassbank has supported livestock from nine grazing associations from two National Forests in northern New Mexico. It continues to enjoy the support of area ranchers and the US Forest Service.

In April, Bill deBuys and Courtney White flew back to Washington, D.C. to talk with The Conservation Fund about a deal for the land and the permit. An offer was made by The Conservation Fund and accepted by The Quivira Coalition Board in June during a tour of the Grass Bank.

We would very much like to thank the Conservation Fund and Bill deBuys for helping us venture into this arena and for the incredible support throughout the transition.

We have a great team running the Grassbank: Craig Conley, Director of the Grassbank, is responsible for creating and implementing a long term vision for the Grassbank; Catherine Baca came to us from the Conservation Fund and handles all the administrative details with wonderful aplomb; Michael Moon, our Ranch Manager, worked on the Nature Conservancy's Matador Ranch Grass Bank in Montana; Cullen Hallmark handled the legal issues associated with the land transfer and helps us develop contracts and other legal arrangements for managing the Grassbank (pro bono). We've had two outstanding interns on the Grassbank as well. Armando Nieto a summer intern from the Integrated Resource Management Program at Colorado State University, interviewed permittees about their experience on the Grassbank; and Deborah Myrin from Utah State University used GIS to prepare a land health map of the Grassbank.

We would also like to thank the Forest Service for their steady support, including Joe Reddan, Pecos/Las Vegas District Ranger; Mike Lujan, Pecos/Las Vegas Natural Resources Staff Officer; and Dave Stewart, Director of Rangeland Management for Region Three.

Half of the budget for the Rowe Mesa Grassbank is provided by the Forest Service - and there would not be a Grassbank without it. Other support has been provided by the EPA, the New Mexico Environment Department, the McCune Foundation, the Thaw Charitable Trust, and the Ford Foundation.

In 2006, we will face many new "challenges" on the mesa. In spite of this being one of the driest years on record, we do have grass which we plan to share with our neighbors in exchange for conservation treatments on their allotments. We have charted a new financial direction for the Grassbank that results in it becoming financially self sufficient over the next five years. This plan involves owning and marketing our own cattle. The start of our new herd arrived on June 4, 2006. Our next big challenge is to create a new grazing association that draws members from the surrounding community.

There are also many challenges on the land itself. An aging pipeline system, thirty miles in length, supplied by a single, cranky, well presents its own set of problems. Roads need major work, fences need to be mended, a grazing plan needs to be developed, monitoring data needs to compiled, the base property needs a ton of elbow grease, and on and on.

But we're excited. We think Grass Banks have the potential to be a major new tool for public and private land management and we are pleased to be a part of this movement. We also look forward to using the mesa as "home ground" for many educational events in the coming years.

The opportunities, as well as the challenges, are limitless.