The land magic of Sid Goodloe

Winter 1999-2000

by John & Linda Heaton

Many areas of New Mexico were wearing their Sunday best this summer. Having been blessed with a two-foot snow at the end of March, followed by good spring moisture and outstanding June and July rains, Sid Goodloe's Carrizo Valley Ranch was decked out in its "night at the opera" attire.
On July 26, 1999, we had the privilege of meeting Sid Goodloe and being treated to a personal tour of his 3500-acre ranch, located 16 miles north of Capitan, New Mexico. The ranch serves as an out-standing testament to a dedicated land steward. When Goodloe bought the ranch in 1956, there were few native grasses growing on the prop-erty, scrub oak, dense brush and woodlands covered a majority of the land and water was scarce.

During the 40+ years Goodloe has owned the land, dramatic im-provements in the water cycle and increased biodiversity have occurred. Natural springs and creeks are run-ning again. Numbers of turkey, deer, elk, and birds have increased as wildlife habitat has improved. Grass savannas of blue grama, sand bluestem, sideoats grama, bottle brush squirrel tail, western wheat, and (this year) even June grasses cover areas once dominated by thickets of juniper and pinon. The changes did not occur naturally, but were "encouraged" with a lot of hard work, careful planning, and tender loving care.

Acres of forest land have been cleared by chaining, bulldozing, hand-cutting, and utilizing pre-scribed burns, as well as wildfires. The areas cleared have been revege-tated with native grasses sprouting from seeds which had been laying dormant for many years, and from a seed mix Goodloe has fine-tuned over the years.

Getting grass established was only the beginning. To enable the vegetation to flourish, to increase root reserves, and to allow the plants to reseed, Goodloe uses a rapid rotation grazing method. In the early 60's, while visiting Rhodesia and Kenya, Goodloe saw landowners using various innova-tive ranching techniques, including "short-duration grazing," which he implemented on his own property in 1970. He now has the oldest short-duration grazing project in the United States. In the summer, his cattle are moved every five to seven days through seven pastures, rang-ing from 400 acres to 800 acres. They may be left in the pastures for a period of one to three weeks dur-ing other months of the year. A sec-tion of winter pasture is not in-cluded in the rotational system. During calving season, cows are not moved. As an additional safeguard, he runs 20 head less cattle than the ranch could support.

As land was cleared, income was derived from selling fence posts, firewood, and peeled pine vi-gas. This paid for mechanical clear-ing and gully plugs. Other eco-nomic benefits have resulted. Cow fertility rates and weaning weights have increased. Recently quoted in an article on environmental grazing in the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi, Goodloe said, "The ranch is much more economically viable because of a sustainable management sys-tem that improves the range while also using it to produce beef. I have increased the carrying capacity of the land because of two things: re-turning the vegetative composition to pre-settlement condition and a short-duration grazing method that is simple and pragmatic."

Goodloe's hard work and the re-sults have not gone unnoticed. The week prior to our visit, a group of 65 people from 14 organizations around the state of New Mexico had toured the ranch. Carrizo Valley Ranch "tourists" are not disap-pointed. It is exciting to see the restoration that dedicated conversa-tion efforts have brought about. Goodloe received the 1995 National Cattlemen Environmental Stewardship Award and in June of this year was named New Mexico Watershed Steward-of-the-Year. On several occasions he has appeared before the New Mexico legislature and legislative subcommittees deal-ing with water issues. His expertise is renowned and respected through-out the state.

Of grave concern to Goodloe is the preservation of agricultural land and open space-not just his own, but all of America's vanishing rangelands. He said, "We all know the absolute final use of a piece of land is a discount store parking lot." Creating healthy ecosystems, in-creasing productivity, encouraging sustainability, preserving agricul-tural lifestyles are admirable activi-ties. Insuring that these activities continue and that farms and ranches remain intact should be a priority for both landowners and environ-mentally-oriented organizations.

Urban sprawl is an unfortunate reality. As cities expand and annex lands, as numbers of recreational and resort areas increase, natural habitats and scenic open spaces are disappearing. In addition, the value of many family farms and ranches has increased dramatically. Children inheriting land with these inflated values are often unable to afford the estate taxes that become due at the death of their parents. Thus, selling part or all of the land to real estate developers may be the only way to pay the tax bill. Estate taxes, prop-erty taxes and the financial incentive to sell or develop are all factors that affect land use decisions.

An excellent tool for handling these problems and making critical decisions regarding the land, Goodloe explains, is a voluntary conservation easement, a legal agreement that ensures a property will be managed according to the landowner's wishes in perpetuity and which may also qualify the landowner for tax benefits. The landowner retains legal title to the property and determines the types of land uses to continue and those to restrict. Each conservation easement agreement can be designed specifi-cally for the needs and desires of the individual.

Goodloe feels land management organizations are missing the boat if they do not include this informa-tion in their goals and/or programs for their members. He encourages individuals to educate themselves, their families, and other landowners in ways to protect the land for (and from) future generations. "All that really changes when a conservation easement is placed on a property is that the development rights are put in a land trust in perpetuity. The land can be sold or leased, but the easement stays with the deed." For additional information concerning conservation easements, he suggests contacting informed legal and tax advisors. Texas Parks and Wildlife, USDA, NRCS, The Land Trust Alliance, or any number of land trust organizations also offer material on the subject.

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