What issues are the American ranchers facing?
In southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, rangeland fragmentation began with the arrival of Anglo-American ranchers. By the early 1900’s the land was divided into parcels too small to be economically or ecologically sustainable for cattle ranching. In the past decade or so a group of ranchers formed the Malpai Borderlands Group to protect their way of life from the growing threat of subdivision. The Malpai Group has reached out to government agencies and conservation interests to form a unique coalition to promote sustainable ranching, and they have developed a system of moving cattle to grass banks so that the ranch land can rest. This in a way simulates the mobility of the Maasai in their unfenced lands.
