Meet our Guests: Valer Clark

Valer Clark

Founder, Cueca Los Ojos

Douglas, AZ

11/8/21

    Decked out in denim and a wide-brimmed sun hat, Valer Clark fills the empty river bed of Silver Creek in a spot about 200 yards north of the U.S. – Mexico Border. “When you skip steps in between, you start to get really big problems,” she says. For Clark, this mindset has been central to her organization, Cuenca Los Ojos, in its work to restore the ecosystems of the ranches it owns along the border. By installing thousands of rock dams, or gabions, on creeks and streams, Clark has managed to slow erosion, increase vegetation, ameliorate water quality, and diminish flooding over thirty miles of border.

     Clark is a native New Yorker and “ended up West by accident” after an extended vacation turned real estate venture. It is logical to question how a city dweller would want to work on land along the border, but there is more than enough work to keep a New Yorker busy. To Clark, this work is necessary to sustain wildlife and support water storage in one of the most biodiverse areas in North America. With four bioregions, a migratory loop to the Rocky Mountains, the Chihuahuan Desert to the East and the Sonoran to the West, this land is environmentally priceless. There are many problems that arise when caring for land long-term along the border. Clark hopes that with more and more animals appearing on the land due to her intensive management practices, the value of this space will become apparent, and be more likely to receive future protection from owners to come.

By Elio Van Gorden

Meet our Guests: Bonnie and Billy Pat McKinney

Billy Pat and Bonnie McKinney

Manager and Wildlife Coordinator, El Carmen Land and Conservation Co.

Terlingua, TX

10/29/2021

     Nestled in the heart of the Chihuahuan desert along the Rio Grande lies the old Adams Ranch, a 27,000-acre property that rests on the border of the United States and Mexico. Under the name El Carmen Land and Conservation Company, the ranch is owned by CEMEX USA, a branch of the Mexican multinational concrete and cement manufacturing company, and conservation philanthropist Josiah Austin. The property is managed by Billy Pat and Bonnie McKinney, two Texans passionate about land conservation. Billy Pat, the manager of the ranch, and Bonnie, the wildlife coordinator, work towards restoring this formerly overgrazed land and rebuilding sustainable wildlife populations.

     The ranch was purchased to bridge the gap between Big Bend National Park and Black Gap National Wildlife Area. Bonnie emphasizes the importance of the ranch as a connecting link between contiguous properties and two countries. This piece of unassuming desert brimming with thorny ocotillo and prickly pear cacti on the edge of the Mexican highlands is a known bird migration corridor and habitat for big mammals such as desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, and black bear.

     Bonnie and Billy Pat have worked tirelessly since moving to the ranch in 2007 to conserve the land because, as Bonnie highlights, “we need our wildlife, we need our waters, and we need our landscape.” The two desert dwellers know that the limiting factor for wildlife populations in this area is lack of water availability. To help remedy this issue they have initiated the installation of dozens of water guzzlers—tanks that collect and store rainwater to create a supplemental water source for wildlife. These water guzzlers serve as a lifeline for a multitude of species as the climate gets increasingly warmer and drier.  

Billy Pat conveys his and Bonnie’s conservation philosophy simply, saying “We don’t wear angel wings, we just try to dirty our hands and make something happen.”

By Claire Warncke

Meet our Guests: Susie Knezevich

Susie Knezevich

Interior designer and co-owner of Johnson Lakes Canyon property

Kanab, UT

9/30/21

     Recent rains have turned large portions of the road leading to Johnson Lakes Canyon outside of Kanab, UT, into soup, but this doesn’t stop Susie Knezevich from reaching the property that she has worked so hard to restore. Almost 20 years ago Susie and her husband Rick, who both reside in Aspen, CO, were looking for a parcel of land where they could hike and camp. In 2004 they purchased an 800-acre private inholding in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a land dominated by sand, sage, and bluffs. Their land, however, was not in the best condition for hiking. Decades of cattle grazing had destroyed native vegetation and allowed prickly invasive plants such as Russian olive and bull thistle to proliferate.

     “We decided to take the cattle off the land because we noticed the damage and we needed to begin fixing that,” Susie said. The Knezevichs worked with the Grand Canyon Trust, a regional environmental group, to put their land under a conservation easement in 2015 to ensure that it will remain free from the beefy ungulates in perpetuity.

     The Johnson Lakes Canyon property now serves as a reference area for the surrounding National Monument which remains heavily grazed by cattle. Susie and her husband have worked with ecologist and SITW guest educator Mary O’Brien to bring in biologists, students, and volunteers to conduct research and restoration projects with the goal of showing how the land has rebounded since grazing has ceased. Susie excitedly shared that the native oaks, cottonwoods, and willows are reaching heights and numbers not noted for years. “We were unlikely characters to get involved in conservation treatments, but now we are really hooked!” says Susie.

By Ani Pham

Meet our Guests: Tom Page

Tom Page

Rancher and Policy Chair, Western Landowners Alliance

Challis, ID

9/12/2021

At the foot of the Lemhi Mountains in central Idaho, Tom Page stands beside a babbling creek. Tom is the Policy Chair for Western Landowners Alliance, an organization dedicated to supporting working landscapes and native ecosystems around the western U.S. He also manages Big Creek Ranch where he grazes cattle and implements restoration projects to support endangered species like Chinook and Steelhead. Tom owns 8,000 acres of the ranch outright, and holds the grazing permit for the remaining 112,000 acres of public land.

The creek Tom stands beside is a perfect example of his restoration efforts. Eight years ago, this land was a feedlot; the ground a foot-deep soup of mud and manure. Now the creek wanders through banks of willow and is surrounded by fields of grasses, all thanks to the water reallocation and stream restoration Tom has done since buying the property in 2014.

Not only does Tom labor tirelessly to restore habitat for critical species on his property, he is also intent on understanding and changing policies that govern land use so they will be more protective of functioning ecosystems. Tom is aware that much of the impressive restoration that he has done at Big Creek Ranch, from putting irrigation water back in streams to wildlife friendly fencing, could be easily undone under new ownership. Tom’s role at the Western Landowners Alliance allows him to advocate for change that will codify restoration of this land that he loves for generations to come.

By Morgan Sharp