Matheson, Colo. (March 5, 2024) — The Nationwide Audubon Society is proud to announce the S W Lasater Ranch, nestled close to Matheson, Colorado, and owned and operated by Sally Lasater, has achieved distinction as an Audubon Licensed bird-friendly habitat. With the land certification earned via Audubon’s Conservation Ranching program, the Audubon Licensed bird-friendly seal can be utilized on packaging and within the promotion of beef merchandise from the ranch, signifying their origin on land managed for birds and biodiversity.
The Audubon Conservation Ranching program represents the group’s most expansive grassland habitat initiative. It’s a collaborative effort between Audubon and ranchers addressing the steep decline in grassland fowl populations over the past 50-plus years. Over 100 ranches, spanning almost 3 million acres nationwide, are managed for birds as Audubon Licensed bird-friendly lands, having met program necessities centering on habitat administration, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare. This consists of 15 ranches and a mixed 614,000 bird-friendly acres in Colorado.
Located in Elbert County on the jap excessive plains on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the S W Lasater Ranch consists of predominantly native grassland habitat. Sally Lasater adopted a ranching philosophy from her dad and mom that focuses on partnering with nature.
She makes use of cautious administration, adjusting cattle numbers to forage circumstances because the cattle graze in a rotational sample that encourages plant variety, minimizes overgrazing and undergrazing, and leaves seed inventory and meals behind for different dwelling organisms that share the habitat. To guard birds and different wildlife, flowers, microbial life, bugs, soil life, and the watershed, Lasater makes use of no pesticides, pesticides, or herbicides. She makes use of biocontrol strategies the place attainable to deal with invasive plant species.
“Supporting nature’s intelligence and variety is extra necessary than ever as our local weather modifications, jap Colorado turns into drier, and the accelerating lack of species and habitat continues right here and elsewhere all through the world,” she stated.
Dusty Downey, Conservation Ranching Director for Audubon Rockies, Audubon’s regional workplace, says it’s laborious to overstate how necessary well-managed rotational grazing is for grassland birds.
“Rotational grazing mimics nature’s means of creating grasslands numerous, resilient, and optimum for birds,” he stated. He notes rotational grazing is phenomenal at creating totally different layers of vegetation for fowl species and their various habitat necessities. “Quick intervals of high-intensity grazing create patches of quick vegetation essential for species just like the Ferruginous Hawk, Lengthy-billed Curlew, and Burrowing Owl. In the meantime, pastures protected against grazing present taller vegetation constructions supporting species just like the Vesper Sparrow, Lark Bunting, and Loggerhead Shrike.”
For extra details about Audubon Conservation Ranching in Colorado, please contact Dusty Downey. For info in different states, attain out to ConservationRanching@Audubon.org.
About Audubon Conservation Ranching
A wildlife habitat initiative of the Nationwide Audubon Society with a singular market connection, Audubon Conservation Ranching goals to stabilize declining grassland fowl populations in partnership with ranchers – on whose land 95 p.c of grassland birds stay. Audubon Conservation Ranching’s enrollment consists of over 100 ranches and almost 3 million acres which have earned standing as Audubon Licensed bird-friendly land. Incentivizing this habitat work for birds and biodiversity are customers with an urge for food for conservation, who help it by buying merchandise grazed on these lands. Consumers see a particular bundle designation – the Audubon Licensed bird-friendly seal – that units these merchandise aside. For extra info, go to www.audubon.org/ranching.
