Deep in cattle country, where enviros and ranchers often clash, the Sante-Fe-based Quivira Coalition says it is developing ways to ranch in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Cofounder Jim Winder says some ranchers using the Quivira methods have doubled beef production without damaging the environment. Formed in 1997, the coalition has four “New Ranch” projects in New Mexico and plans several more in New Mexico and Arizona. Meanwhile, some ranchers in Nevada aren’t thinking such happy thoughts. About 50 ranchers and states’ rights advocates gathered yesterday in Fallon, Nev., to protest the federal government’s seizure of cattle from two ranchers who refused to pay grazing fees for using public land.
