New breed of ranchers shapes a sustainable West

[VV Note: At home, we will not be renewing our Time and Newsweek subscriptions. Why? Because of two reasons: (1) Their coverage is sickeningly U.S.-centric, often dismissing with a curt "meh" anything big that happens outside the U.S. unless whatever the event is affects the 50 (self-centered) states. (2) They no longer deal with news but instead opinion. 

The Christian Science Monitor, on the other hand, covers real news objectively wherever it may originate, be it from Angola, China, the EU, Mongolia, Pakistan or Zimbabwe. The editorials are kept to a minimum, and thankfully are written by individuals who are not print media "superstars". 

Yes, the CSM costs a lot more than Time or Newsweek, but it offers a lot more as well, like truth, justice and the world (not the American) way. While this article is about pure Americana, it does from a perspective rare to mainstream journalism today. — LP]

These green cowboys try to marry good stewardship of the land with making money

By Todd Wilkinson, Correspondent / July 29, 2012
Christian Science Monitor

HARLOWTON, MONT.

Zachary Jones is a saddle-hardened fifth-generation rancher even though, on the surface, he may not look like one. As he threads his pickup truck through the back pasture of a quintessential Western expanse – one carpeted in flaxen-colored grass in the shadow of Montana's Crazy Mountains – he bears little resemblance to the stereotype of the Stetson-wearing cowboy. No pointed boots or spurs. No denim. No bandanna. Not even a rifle mounted in the vehicle's back window.

Instead, Mr. Jones is wearing cargo pants, a stylish shirt with a Patagonia logo on the front, and, most tellingly, Birkenstock sandals. You'd almost think he were heading to the monthly meeting of the men's book club in Bozeman.

What he's actually doing is checking on newborn Angus calves on his Twodot ranch following rumors that wolves might be prowling the area. In other words, real callous-forming wrangler work, which suggests another point: Out here, appearance sometimes has little to do with authenticity.

"Being a smart rancher – one who's still going to be here in another 50 years – isn't based on how you dress," says Jones. "It comes down to how you treat the land and build resilience over time that matters. In particular, it's about how well you manage grass and water."

Normally, listening to a cattleman talk with reverence about managing grass and water, using terms like "holistic" and "sustainable," would be akin to hearing an environmentalist marvel about the horsepower in an all-terrain vehicle. It seldom happens.

But a new breed of cowboy, like Jones, is changing how ranching is being done in the American West and might – just might – alter the dynamic in the "range wars" that have engulfed the region for more than a half century. Make no mistake: These are not new arrivals carrying out green techniques for the feel-good sake of being green. They are ranchers managing the land in benevolent and environmentally sensitive ways because they think it will help them survive – and make money.

(Continued here.)