Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch

A. Thomas Cole spent thirty-two years as a small-town general practicing lawyer in central Arizona before retiring with his wife, Lucinda, to a ranch in southwestern New Mexico. Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch is his first book.

“This book will help spur the imagination of other landowners--'how can I help?' is the most human of questions, and it turns out the answers are manifold!” - Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature“A.T. Cole is as great of a writer as he is a practitioner of stewarding rangelands and their community. In a region currently being devastated by drought, wildfires and political divisiveness, Tom is not restoring valuable relationships but re-storying the way we relate to the land. Bravo!” - Gary Paul Nabhan, contemplative ecologist, collaborative conservationist, co-author of Agave Spirits: the Past, Present and Future of Mezcal“A riveting tale that combines history, advocacy, and how-to, The Pitchfork Ranch is both a kick-in-the-butt call for individual action on climate change and an inspiring story of what one couple with a passion for restoring the land can accomplish.” - Susan J. Tweit, author of Bless the Birds: Living with Love in a Time of Dying“The great American conservationist Also Leopold once wrote that 'One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.' Tom and Cinda Cole learned this wisdom first-hand when they purchased the Pitchfork Ranch. Decades of hard use had created a variety ecological wounds, some easy to recognize, others only revealed as the Coles came to know their land. In the finest Leopold tradition, they set out to heal these wounds and make the land healthy again, which will be increasingly important under climate change. It is a story for our times - and it's an inspiring one!” - Courtney White, author of Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey through Carbon Country“A.T. Cole’s story of land restoration on the Pitchfork Ranch rests on a firm premise and a promise: that however daunting the world’s multiple and intersecting crises may be, all of us can be agents of positive change. In this corner of New Mexico’s high desert grasslands, Cole and his wife Lucinda have devoted themselves to repairing a wounded place. In sharing the story of their work, Cole encourages us all to take up our part in healing a wounded world.” - Curt Meine, author of Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work and Senior Fellow, Center for Humans and Nature“For the past 140 years, Arizona and New Mexico's precious cienegas have been extensively drained, degraded and destroyed. Twenty years ago, at Burro Cienega, the Coles reversed the process. After removing the cattle and installing hundreds of stream stabilization structures, gully erosion has ceased and recovery is now well underway. Much of the cienega has been re-wetted. Wetland vegetation and wildlife have returned. My favorite rule applies: When it stops getting worse, it starts getting better.  Well done you two!” - Bill Zeedyk, author of Let The Water Do The Work: Induced Meandering, an Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Pitchfork Ranch2. Diverse Habitat, Wildlife, and Early Cultures3. Cattle4. Species Preservation5. The Trifecta Crisis6. The Miracle of Habitat Restoration7. Hope Beneath Our Feet8. Strategies That Will Save Us9. Ecological Civilization10. Empire Zinc Mine Strike and Salt of the Earth11. Causes for Outrage12. The Voice of the StreetsConclusionAppendix A: CiÉnaga Spelling, Pronunciation, and Punctuation Appendix B: Mycorrhizal Symbiosis Appendix C: Personal Climate Pledge Appendix D: Draft Public Official Contact Appendix E: On “The Voice of the Streets” Notes About the Wood Engravings Index