Education

Providing opportunity for study groups — elementary, high school, college and university education — is a part of the ranch agenda. The video here is a presentation we assembled with our grandson, Oliver Nix Welke, for his third grade class in Seattle. The ranch has a five-member Science Advisory Committee, and there have been a number of papers and publications based on study here that are listed in the Writing and Publications section below.

CONTACT: A.T. & Lucinda Cole,
atandcinda@gmail.com
575.574.8593

Students at Aldo Leopold Charter School discussing restoration in the context of the climate crisis and how natural climate solutions can achieve 37% of the Paris Climate Agreement’s goals. November 15, 2019.

Five very happy Continental Divide Trail bikers trapped in a huge storm, literally stuck, immovable in foot deep mud, rescued and stayed at the Pitchfork for several days until the road dried out. The fella in the back-right from Canada said they were thinking the next step was to abandon their bikes, walk the 8-miles to safety and give up. The fella in the back-left from Norway owned a bike shop and tuned up our bikes in thanks. September 16, 2019.

Princeton University professor Brian Huberman is filming material for a feature that includes a history of Apacheria. December 16, 2016

Writing and Publications

There have been an assortment of writings arising from living here or visits by scholars, students and writers with a connection to the Pitchfork Ranch. We have listed them generally in the sequence they were written, irrespective of publication.

1. Cassandra Bluett, "The Effects of Variation and Water Availability on Rodent Habitat Selection," WNMU, Department of Biology, no date, written by a student at Southwestern New Mexico University whose class studied on the ranch and whose paper was based on research here. Cassandra Bluett Project (PDF)
2. A.T. Cole and Cinda Cole, "Ciénaga Restoration at the Pitchfork Ranch," Proceedings of the Second Natural History of the Gila, October 16-18, 2008, The New Mexico Botanist, Special Issue, No. 2, October 2010. Gila Symposium 2008
3. Kelly Mensah, "Partner’s Projects in the Southwest Region Improve Ranchers’ Land," August 31, 2010.
4. David Gori, Gitanjali S. Bodner, Karla Sartor, Peter Warren and Steven Bassett, "Sky Island Grassland Assessment," September, 2012. Sky Island Grassland Assessment (PDF)
5. Karla Sartor and Dave Gori, "Burro Ciénaga Restoration Plan & Progress: Pitchfork Ranch," August, 2012, The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico. TNC Pitchfork Grassland Report (PDF)
6. Victor W. Steinmann and Eugene Jercinovic, "Euphorbia rayturneri (Euphorbiaceae), A New Species from Southwestern New Mexico, United States," Novon, Volume 22, Number 4, 482, 2013.
7. Eugene Jercinovic, Eurphorbia rayturneri (Ray Turner’s spurge), Euphorbia rayturneri (PDF) newmexicoflores.com/euphorbia_rayturneri.html, September 10, 2013.
8. Richard Stephen Felger, "Perennial Native Grasses: Food for a Dry World," Native Plant Society of New Mexico, October, November, December, 2014. Perennial Native Grasses (PDF)
9. Cole and Helbock, YouTube: Aridland Ciénagas, 2014.
10. "Saving Hotter & Dryer Ciénaga Habitat," National fish, wildlife & plants, Climate Adaptation Strategy, undated. Saving Hotter Dryer Ciénaga Habitat (PDF)
11. A.T. Cole, "Unearthing Parallels: John Wesley Powell and James Hanson," 2014, unpublished. Unearthing Parallels (PDF)
12. A.T. Cole, "A Message for Climate Change 'Denialists,'" 2014, unpublished. Message For Climate Change Denialists (PDF)
13. A.T. Cole and Cinda Cole, "An Overview of Aridland Ciénagas, with Proposals for Classification, Restoration and Preservation," Proceedings of the Fourth Natural History of the Gila October 25-27, 2012, The New Mexico Botanist, Special Issue No. 4, September 2015. Gila Symposium 2012 (PDF)
14. Carl E. Bock, "Abundance and variety of birds associated with point sources of water in southwestern New Mexico, U.S.A.," Journal of Arid Environments, 116 (2015) 53-56. Birds & Water (PDF)
15.  Bringing the Water Back / The Pitchfork Ranch" New Mexico Land Conservancy, 2017, Fall 2017 New Mexico Land Conservancy Newsletter
16. Barry Price Steinbrecher and Evan Giomi, "2015-2016 Survey of the Pitchfork Ranch, Grant County, New Mew Mexico," 2016, unpublished. Pitchfork Survey 2015-16 (PDF)
17. Avery McGaha, "The story behind a saved cienega in New Mexico," High Country News, December 21, 2015. Saved Cienega
18. Berry Price Steinbrecher, "Learning the Landscape,"  Archaeology Southwest, July 13, 2015. Learning The Landscape (PDF)
    
19. Ellen Soles, "Burro Ciénaga Hydrological Monitoring Report," 2007-2014, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2016, unpublished. Pitchfork Report 2015-11-30 (PDF)
20. A.T. Cole, "Bug, Fish Bait or Spirit," 2016, unpublished. Bug, Fish Bait or Spirit (PDF)
21. A.T. Cole, "Habitat Restoration and 'The Great Transition,'" 2016, unpublished. The Great Transition (PDF)
22. A.T. Cole, "The New White Angus," 2016, unpublished. The New White Angus (PDF)
23. Wikipedia: Ciénega, 2017.
24. Evan Giomi, "2016 Survey of The Pitchfork Ranch, Grant County, New Mexico," Archaeology Southwest, 2017, unpublished. UGPA 2016 Pitchfork Survey (PDF)
25. A.T. Cole, "The Biotic Ethic: Land Restoration and Carbon Sequestration in an Era of Climate Change," 2017, unpublished. (PDF)
26.  A.T. Cole, "The Planet, Not Just the Republic at Risk," 2017, unpublished. (PDF)
27. Goings-On at the Pitchfork Ranch,” Archaeology Southwest, (PDF)
28. Habitat Restoration on the Pitchfork Ranch youtube.com/watch?v=dd5UTa63CBE
29. Dr. Caitlin Rottler, “The Carbon Bank Beneath Our Feet: Storing Carbon in Rangeland Soils” 2019. (PDF)
30. Geoffrey Plant, “From Ranch to Wetland,” Silver City Daily Press, Jan. 4, 2020