[Music]
big day
rubber white for
buffalo waiting all of us are excited a
little nervous but guess we’re ready
readies were going to be my name is Duke
Phillips I managed the madness Potter
ranch world over 100,000 acres located
in the San Luis Valley southern central
Colorado we managed it in partnership
with the Nature Conservancy which is a
world’s largest conservation
organization back some years ago the
Nature Conservancy established in the
mid no support as a conservation area
but we realized after trying to manage
ourselves that this landscape requires a
skills that the Nature Conservancy
doesn’t have Minnesota ranch is one of
the riches wildlife habitats anywhere
and it’s a home to one of the largest
herds of bison United States we’re
trying to manage the third as closely as
we can to how they used to live in the
wild but the landscape is different now
in the old days bison herds had the
freedom to move wherever they wanted but
in our situation we have limited space
and so if the Bison herd grows beyond
what the land can sustain they’re going
to over graze it so in order to protect
the land and to maintain the amount of
grass that’s available for the Bison to
have enough food we need to keep the
number of animals to a sustainable level
and so our skills with ranchers come
into play it’s once a year we go out six
days or so and we gather about 1,500
head of bison actually about two
thousand if you count the calves when we
gather them we pull out the animals we
need to sell that money is what we live
on what we run the ranch on for the rest
of the year so everything is at stake
they’ve learned that the best way to
move those animals is on horseback and
unfortunately that is running next to
the Bison over ravines and all that kind
of stuff
it’s very dangerous I try not to think
about it basically what we’re going to
be doing is trying to guide them and so
we’ll come down and we’ll ease up to
them really slow at some point as we get
closer and closer they’re going to get
up and take off and then everybody’s
just going to rush them and get them
into a full full-fledged flight our goal
is to get the bison herd into a pan with
Kraus we spend months preparing for a
week of rain and bison in we have a
limited number of chances so each one
that we make we got to make sure that
fewest number get away because once
they’re gone they will not be brought in
that year there’s about 80 or 100 just I
guess it’s West to test this house just
north of the road you ready buggy
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
probably the easiest thing to do out
there screw up make one little mistake
and everything’s over we were trying to
get them through this gate but I was out
of place and so is everybody else
meaning out it was going good for a bit
pretty well outran us I think we got
maybe 20 head in out of that group and
there’s maybe 120 in there
these Buffalo Wild they’re not used to
being handled you can’t forget that they
live out there this is their world and
you’re going up into it to try to
manipulate their movement I’m very fond
full you’re going to get beat every time
I was born in Venezuela on a branch that
my father ran for Nelson Rockefeller
ranching has been a way of life for my
family for several generations I never
imagined that I would be working with a
conservation organization managing a
bison ranch and especially a wild herd
bison but as I have worked more more
closely with the Nature Conservancy I
realize how important our relationship
is our responsibility as ranchers has
changed a great deal from raising beef
to becoming stewards of the land we will
never have a majority of the landscape
under some sort of formal protection
it’s really ranchers that have a
substantial portion of land under their
stewardship and really ranching that can
be the right hand to conservation
we hope the way that we’re managing an
Espada ranch would be a model for other
ranches of private ranching and the
conservation community balancing
conservation and economics which has to
happen
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
[Music]
when we gather them we run them through
the chute we vaccinate heifer calves we
pull out the animal we need to sell
[Music]
a lot of people don’t realize bison ants
of wild animal is extremely endangered
there are only 20,000 in North America
now and to give you some idea of the
tremendous decrease in animals it’s
estimated there were 50 to 80 million
bison originally
[Music]
the rest of the Bison that don’t get
shipped off get turned back out onto the
ranch ranchers have the potential
playing the biggest role and caring for
lamp because our roots go very deep
there and if we’re going to survive into
the future if our kids are going to have
the same options that we have same
liberties we’re going to have to figure
out how we’re going to manage the
natural world without the parameters of
nature the way it was before we arrived
to me ranching is about living with the
land I feel a sense of honour of being
entrusted with its care because I live
on it and I’m part of it it’s part of me
today’s Thursday our last chance to get
something in we lost twice as many as we
normally have but every year is
different and we have to understand that
okay thanks backs hunters head TV boys
ready
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
that’s what busy can overdo it right
there
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
big day
rubber white for
buffalo waiting all of us are excited a
little nervous but guess we’re ready
readies were going to be my name is Duke
Phillips I managed the madness Potter
ranch world over 100,000 acres located
in the San Luis Valley southern central
Colorado we managed it in partnership
with the Nature Conservancy which is a
world’s largest conservation
organization back some years ago the
Nature Conservancy established in the
mid no support as a conservation area
but we realized after trying to manage
ourselves that this landscape requires a
skills that the Nature Conservancy
doesn’t have Minnesota ranch is one of
the riches wildlife habitats anywhere
and it’s a home to one of the largest
herds of bison United States we’re
trying to manage the third as closely as
we can to how they used to live in the
wild but the landscape is different now
in the old days bison herds had the
freedom to move wherever they wanted but
in our situation we have limited space
and so if the Bison herd grows beyond
what the land can sustain they’re going
to over graze it so in order to protect
the land and to maintain the amount of
grass that’s available for the Bison to
have enough food we need to keep the
number of animals to a sustainable level
and so our skills with ranchers come
into play it’s once a year we go out six
days or so and we gather about 1,500
head of bison actually about two
thousand if you count the calves when we
gather them we pull out the animals we
need to sell that money is what we live
on what we run the ranch on for the rest
of the year so everything is at stake
they’ve learned that the best way to
move those animals is on horseback and
unfortunately that is running next to
the Bison over ravines and all that kind
of stuff
it’s very dangerous I try not to think
about it basically what we’re going to
be doing is trying to guide them and so
we’ll come down and we’ll ease up to
them really slow at some point as we get
closer and closer they’re going to get
up and take off and then everybody’s
just going to rush them and get them
into a full full-fledged flight our goal
is to get the bison herd into a pan with
Kraus we spend months preparing for a
week of rain and bison in we have a
limited number of chances so each one
that we make we got to make sure that
fewest number get away because once
they’re gone they will not be brought in
that year there’s about 80 or 100 just I
guess it’s West to test this house just
north of the road you ready buggy
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
probably the easiest thing to do out
there screw up make one little mistake
and everything’s over we were trying to
get them through this gate but I was out
of place and so is everybody else
meaning out it was going good for a bit
pretty well outran us I think we got
maybe 20 head in out of that group and
there’s maybe 120 in there
these Buffalo Wild they’re not used to
being handled you can’t forget that they
live out there this is their world and
you’re going up into it to try to
manipulate their movement I’m very fond
full you’re going to get beat every time
I was born in Venezuela on a branch that
my father ran for Nelson Rockefeller
ranching has been a way of life for my
family for several generations I never
imagined that I would be working with a
conservation organization managing a
bison ranch and especially a wild herd
bison but as I have worked more more
closely with the Nature Conservancy I
realize how important our relationship
is our responsibility as ranchers has
changed a great deal from raising beef
to becoming stewards of the land we will
never have a majority of the landscape
under some sort of formal protection
it’s really ranchers that have a
substantial portion of land under their
stewardship and really ranching that can
be the right hand to conservation
we hope the way that we’re managing an
Espada ranch would be a model for other
ranches of private ranching and the
conservation community balancing
conservation and economics which has to
happen
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
[Music]
when we gather them we run them through
the chute we vaccinate heifer calves we
pull out the animal we need to sell
[Music]
a lot of people don’t realize bison ants
of wild animal is extremely endangered
there are only 20,000 in North America
now and to give you some idea of the
tremendous decrease in animals it’s
estimated there were 50 to 80 million
bison originally
[Music]
the rest of the Bison that don’t get
shipped off get turned back out onto the
ranch ranchers have the potential
playing the biggest role and caring for
lamp because our roots go very deep
there and if we’re going to survive into
the future if our kids are going to have
the same options that we have same
liberties we’re going to have to figure
out how we’re going to manage the
natural world without the parameters of
nature the way it was before we arrived
to me ranching is about living with the
land I feel a sense of honour of being
entrusted with its care because I live
on it and I’m part of it it’s part of me
today’s Thursday our last chance to get
something in we lost twice as many as we
normally have but every year is
different and we have to understand that
okay thanks backs hunters head TV boys
ready
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
that’s what busy can overdo it right
there
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
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