Grass, Soil, Hope

June 1, 2014

White (Revolution on the Range) is the Santa Fe-based cofounder of the Quivira Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes "land health." This title recounts the author's recent journeys around the United States and Australia to selected farms, ranches, parks, and gardens. There, innovative owners or managers are improving yields while regenerating soil and sequestering carbon. According to White, soil is the last major carbon sink available to help regulate rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. His subjects use successful but unusual practices that others are still reluctant to adopt. They include no-till farming with cover crops, targeted timed grazing, common fields for pastures and crops, combined sheep and cattle herds, removal of woody vegetation, reflooding of drained wetlands, protection of beaver colonies, careful stream bed restoration, and encouragement of wildlife. The author notes that young landowners are using social media and opensource software like Farm Hack to share ideas and resources. VERDICT White makes some digressions, but his easygoing style links the many enterprises he covers. This book should be a hit with farmers and ranchers who want to kick over established traces, rethink their operations, and build rich soils.--David R. Conn, formerly with Surrey Libs., BC

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
White (Revolution on the Range: The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West, 2008 etc.) shows how taking measures to increase the carbon content of the soil can help mitigate global warming.The author explains that after years of working on environmentalist issues as a Sierra Club activist, he became dispirited by the "constant brawling between environmental activists and loggers, ranchers and other rural residents." In 1997, he and a partner decided to put their ideas into practice and started a nonprofit ranch based on the migratory behavior of bison feeding in a natural habitat. The venture failed after the 2008 financial collapse, but the author was convinced that they were on the right track. He believed that with proper soil management, ambient carbon dioxide could be significantly reduced, which would also increase the quality of the food we eat. "Around 30 to 40 percent of the carbon created by photosynthesis can be exuded directly into soil via plant roots to nurture the microbes that help plants grow and build healthy soil," writes the author. White traveled to speak with soil scientists and visited ranches in the American Southwest and Australia to witness how modern, high-tech ranches were using satellite monitoring and on-the-ground scrutiny to check the condition of the land. He discovered massive ranches that were divided into continually monitored small plots, where farmers tested the soil and ground cover conditions and moisture in order to determine where and when to rotate cattle, which were contained by solar-powered, mobile fencing. White also spoke with scientists at the University of California whose experimental data buttressed his hypotheses about carbon soil capture. The author reports efforts to restore wetlands that "can sequester carbon at rates up to fifty times those of tropical forests." White concludes that some sort of incentive-based carbon offset market is required to encourage high-tech investment in soil management.An inspiring can-do approach to the threat of global warming.

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