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| Quivira Coalition | |
|---|---|
| Name | Quivira Coalition |
| Formation | 1997 |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| Area served | Southwestern United States |
| Focus | Rangeland restoration, sustainable land management |
Quivira Coalition is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting ecological restoration and sustainable land management across the Southwestern United States through collaborative approaches that bring together ranchers, conservationists, government agencies, and scientists. Founded in 1997 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the organization emphasizes practical demonstrations, policy engagement, and peer-to-peer education to address rangeland degradation, watershed health, and wildfire risk. Quivira Coalition operates at the intersection of land stewardship, rural livelihoods, and ecological science, engaging with stakeholders from private ranches to federal land management agencies.
Quivira Coalition was founded in 1997 by a group including David Maschino and other ranchers and conservationists responding to widespread concern about rangeland condition in the New Mexico and Arizona landscape, influenced by regional debates following the Taylor Grazing Act era and land use controversies involving the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Early efforts connected to movements led by practitioners such as Allan Savory and organizations like The Nature Conservancy and National Wildlife Federation, while drawing on precedents set by restoration projects in the Great Plains and the Sonoran Desert. Over the 2000s and 2010s, Quivira Coalition expanded programming amid policy shifts tied to the Healthy Forests Initiative and wildfire legislation debated in the United States Congress, forging relationships with academic partners at institutions such as New Mexico State University and University of Arizona.
Quivira Coalition’s mission focuses on improving ecological health and ranch viability by promoting practices that restore soil, water, and native vegetation across the Chihuahuan Desert and neighboring ecoregions. Signature programs include field-based "practical rancher" workshops, demonstration projects on working landscapes, and convenings modeled after peer networks like those run by Rodale Institute and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). Quivira also engages in policy advocacy at venues including the New Mexico State Capitol and federal rulemaking processes at the Department of the Interior and United States Department of Agriculture. Educational offerings have involved collaborations with the Smithsonian Institution-affiliated initiatives and extension programs from land-grant universities such as Colorado State University.
The organization promotes a menu of restoration techniques derived from applied ecology and ranching traditions, such as managed grazing strategies akin to approaches discussed by Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative proponents, water-harvesting structures similar to techniques used in Mojave Desert restoration, and targeted brush management practices seen in Great Basin projects. Quivira emphasizes carbon-sequestering practices that resonate with initiatives by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and nature-based solutions advocated by groups like International Union for Conservation of Nature. Demonstration sites highlight practices including riparian restoration comparable to projects by Trout Unlimited and erosion control measures found in Soil Conservation Service-informed projects. The coalition often frames interventions in relation to regional fire ecology studied in cases such as the Las Conchas Fire and suppression policies examined after the Yellowstone fires of 1988.
Quivira Coalition works with a wide network of partners spanning private commodity producers and public institutions: ranchers from associations such as the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, conservation NGOs including Audubon Society and Sierra Club, federal agencies like the United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, and research partners at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and University of New Mexico. It has engaged philanthropic funders that operate in similar spaces to MacArthur Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation grant programs, and participates in collaborative platforms alongside the National Interagency Fire Center and regional watershed groups such as Pecos Watershed. International exchanges have linked Quivira practices to restoration efforts in places like the Patagonian Steppe and projects supported by the World Wildlife Fund.
Quivira Coalition cites positive outcomes in increased native vegetation, improved soil stability, and enhanced ranch profitability at demonstration sites, echoing metrics used by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation plans. Supporters point to reduced wildfire risk and recovered riparian corridors in areas influenced by Quivira trainings, drawing comparisons to success stories promoted by Conservation International and NatureServe. Critics, including some range scientists and policy analysts from institutions such as Lincoln University and commentators in agricultural journalism, have questioned the scalability of certain grazing-based tactics and called for more rigorous, long-term randomized studies like those advocated by National Academy of Sciences. Debates overlay wider controversies involving proponents such as Allan Savory and academic critiques from researchers associated with University of California, Davis and Texas A&M University.
Quivira Coalition operates as a nonprofit organization with a board of directors and an executive staff, funded through a mix of grants, donations, membership dues, and fee-for-service trainings similar to funding models used by Nature Conservancy chapters and land trust organizations like The Trust for Public Land. Major funding sources have included private foundations, state grants from entities like the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, and federal competitive grants administered by agencies such as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Governance features partnerships with advisory councils composed of ranchers, scientists, and agency representatives, mirroring stakeholder frameworks used by the Salt River Project and other regional collaborative institutions.
Category:Environmental organizations based in the United States Category:Organizations established in 1997