Parley tours impressive Deseret Ranch

Sen. Parley Hellewell staff
July 12, 2003

On July 9, Sen. Parley Hellewell and two of his staff spent the day touring Deseret Ranch near Randolph, at the invitation of environmental consultant Steve Rich of Salt Lake City's Higher Ground Associates.

Mr. Rich briefed Parley for nine hours about the ecological management model employed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the operation of its for-profit cattle ranch.

The ranch comprises 205,000 acres of mountains, woods, streams, lakes, and meadows. It is carefully managed on a "multiple use" approach that permits 2,000 to 5,000 cattle to co-exist with wildlife in a park-like habitat that demonstrably benefits from the presence of the cattle.

The cattle graze throughout the varied typography of the ranch on a carefully-monitored rotating schedule that prevents overgrazing and in fact profoundly benefits the environment.

Among verifiable benefits of this so-called "good grazing" is the fact that the cattle have caused native grasses to multiply throughout the ranch, stimulating the water retention of the soil. Even though the region is in a long-term drought, the water table at Deseret Ranch has steadily risen in recent years to fill stream beds, lakes, and reservoirs in the absence of normal snowpack or rainfall--and in fact, the water table is just below the surface in numerous areas of the ranch.

Sagebrush spontaneously dying out due to high water table stimulated by "good grazing"

That is precisely what Steve Rich documented for Parley throughout the tour. Rich has acted as a consultant to the ranch for over a dozen years, and has assisted ranch personnel in modeling the ranch upon ecologically-balanced research by New Mexico environmental authority Allan Savory.

Water table rising to fill a low basin during the current drought

According to Rich, the presence of the cattle--again under careful management based upon sound scientific data--has transformed the ranch into a natural wonder, a management model that the church is replicating in many of its other land holdings.

Rich declares that if rural Utah were patterned after the same principles already proven to be beneficial at Deseret Ranch, "The economy of rural Utah would triple."

Some of the current 3,000-head herd

Rich notes that the elk in the park-like ranch are much more destructive to the environment than the closely-monitored domestic cattle. The cattle inhabit stream beds, wooded areas, reservoir shores, hillsides, brushlands, meadows, and virtually every other inch of the ranch, yet do no measurable harm to the environment. The documented data show a dramatic revitalization spurred by the mixed-use concept involving the cattle.

Among the management techniques used at the ranch is intentional burning in selected areas to control the habitat--much as ancient native Americans employed on a significant scale in pre-Columbian America to produce desirable foods from the environment.

Although the ranch is a for-profit enterprise, the church places equal value on wise stewardship of this large tract of land, which now visibly excels nearby public land in beauty, health of its environment, and value to the surrounding region. Because the ranch is steadily becoming an ideal habitat for wildlife, it attracts wildlife from all around--a fact adjacent properties appreciate, because it diminishes the threat of predators outside the ranch. The ranch boasts one of the most diverse and healthy habitats for waterfowl in the United States--a situation that grows each year.

Because the ranch has become such a desirable wilderness habitat, it has become a popular playground for fishermen and wildlife sportsmen, who are willing to pay substantial fees for the privilege of enjoying this remarkable natural compound.

Cattle grazing among native grass that is gradually replacing sagebrush

Local sheep ranchers also pay a fee to graze their sheep at the ranch.

According to Rich, the ranch generates several million dollars a year in clear profit, demonstrating the "free-market" value of such a wilderness management model.

Throughout the tour--which was fraught with superlatives by ranch consultant Rich--Sen. Hellewell repeatedly expressed his desire to see this kind of sensible multiple use of open lands implemented in federal and state wilderness areas. Unfortunately, such areas are too-often managed on the premise that cattle are detrimental to wilderness, an attitude a retired wildlife and range biologist from Salt Lake calls "mad-at-cow disease."

Steve Rich (right) explaining the ecological advantages of Deseret Ranch

Such thinking produces the kind of stark contrast that exists on both sides of the highway from Evanston to Randolph, which separates Deseret Ranch from public land. On the Deseret Ranch side of the road is a certifiably healthier environment than on the opposite side of the road for as many miles as the eye can see.

"It's due to the cattle," said Rich.

Sport fisherman

Beaver abode

"This kind of balance between wise stewardship and free-market principles is the way we ought to take care of the environment in the state of Utah." —Sen. Parley Hellewell

See also:

 "Good Grazing," from emagazine.com.

 "Livestock Grazing Has Often Benefited Wildlife and the Environment," by Ed Gomer.

 Environment in Parley's Plan.

 Public lands in Parley's Plan.

 Water in Parley's Plan.