Kelsey Molloy is the Northern Great Plains Director at The Nature Conservancy and Angel DeVries is the Executive Director of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA), and they both live and work on the Northern Great Plains in Malta, Montana. While they work for different organizations, Kelsey and Angel collaborate on a long list of critical projects, most of which are focused on grassland conservation, ranching, and community partnerships.
One of their most notable collaborations involves the Matador Ranch, a 60,000-acre TNC-owned property near Dodson, Montana. The Matador Ranch is home to an outside-the-box conservation initiative known as a grassbank, which is a partnership opportunity that offers ranchers grazing access to rich grasses in exchange for adopting sustainable practices on their own property.
This grassbank was introduced during the historic drought of the early 2000s, and it offered much needed grazing opportunities for ranching families whose homeplaces had been hit hard by the dry conditions. Since then, for the past 20+ years, the grassbank has continued to provide win-win solutions for ranchers and conservation-focused non-profit organizations, as well as helping to bolster trust, goodwill, and community cohesiveness.
As you’ll hear in this conversation, the grassbank has been such a success, the TNC is currently searching for another ranch to acquire and eventually transform into a community led and owned grassbank. This “grassbank 2.0” will not only provide a grazing safety net during times of drought, but will also further the work of providing opportunities for new or young ranchers who are just entering the business but do not yet have the capital to purchase their own land.
We connected via the magic of the internet, and had a wide-ranging conversation about their productive collaboration, grassbanks, challenges and opportunities in the Northern Great Plains, and more. We discussed the work of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, the history of the Matador Ranch, and the ins and outs of the Matador Ranch grassbank. We discussed how skyrocketing land values are making it nearly impossible for new ranchers to enter the business, and also how succession planning is becoming an important, but often underappreciated, issue for ranching families. We also talked a lot about the need for optimism and curiosity, the importance of building community, and how TNC and RSA are working to bridge cultural and geographic divides. We also learn about RSA’s book club, which will likely be of great interest to many of you.
I learned so much from this conversation and appreciate Kelsey and Angel taking time out of their busy schedules to chat with me. Hope you enjoy!
Header photo © Ami Vitale/TNC, headshots courtesy of Kelsey and Angel
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EPISODE PARTNER:
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy and TNC chapters throughout the Western United States. Guided by science and grounded by decades of collaborative partnerships, The Nature Conservancy has a long-standing legacy of achieving lasting results to create a world where nature and people thrive.
On the last Tuesday of every month throughout 2024, Mountain & Prairie will be delving into conversations with a wide range of The Nature Conservancy’s leaders, partners, collaborators, and stakeholders, highlighting the myriad of conservation challenges, opportunities, and solutions here in the American West and beyond. You can access all of the episodes here.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s impactful work in the West and around the world, visit www.nature.org
RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 4:00 – Kelsey and Angel introduce themselves
- 8:10 – Background on the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA)
- 10:00 – A few of the biggest challenges facing Great Plains ranchers
- 15:30 – The history of the Matador Ranch and the grassbank
- 22:00 – Lessons learned from the grassbank
- 24:15 – A local’s perspective on the grassbank
- 25:30 – Wildlife-friendly fencing explained
- 26:30 – Other examples of grassbanks
- 30:15 – Emerging plans for a new grassbank
- 33:45 – Steps involved in finding a new property
- 36:00 – Success stories from the Matador Ranch
- 41:00 – Easements as a tool for grasslands restoration
- 43:45 – Importance of positivity and optimism
- 48:45 – Importance of optimism
- 52:00 – Important books
- 56:15 – RSA book club
- 59:45 – Words of wisdom
Information Referenced:
- Kelsey Molloy
- Angel DeVries
- TNC Montana
- Ranchers Stewardship Alliance
- Matador Ranch
- Malta, MT
- AUM
- Matt Morehead
- Amber Smith
- Winnett ACES
- Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge
- Plowprint report from World Wildlife Fund
- Pioneer Cattleman in Montana: The Story of the Circle C Ranch by Walt Coburn
- Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations by David R. Montgomery
- Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy
- The Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society and Its Future
- Brené Brown
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
- Otters Dance: A Rancher’s Journey to Enlightenment and Stewardship by Bob Budd
- RSA Book Club and other events
- Elaine Froese
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Kate Mannix – A Legacy of Land Stewardship
- Amber Smith – Creating Connection & Community
- Anna Borgman – Obsession, Curiosity, and Purpose-Driven Work
- Celene Hawkins & Izabella Ruffino – Tribal Partnerships, Indigenous Voices, Cutting-Edge Conservation
- Heidi Redd & Sue Bellagamba – Tales from the Dugout Ranch
- Lorelei Cloud – Solving Modern-Day Challenges with Ancient Tribal Wisdom
Visit the podcast page for a full list of episodes where you can filter episodes by topic and guests’ vocations.
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