the ground at vermejo reserve in new mexico contains a rich source of knowledge: valuable information that can explain how healthy soils are vital to the biodiverse plants and animals that survive off of it. 

the conservationists who manage and maintain the property are looking to nourish the land, but they say that they are also looking to share their findings. their next frontier is sharing what they learn on the reserve.

“i have learned that education is paramount,” said jason ladjevic, vermejo’s director of activities. “being able to convey that to our guests, i think, is very vital and very important so that they can hopefully be inspired to go home or wherever they are and inspire change within their communities.”

a well (and range) of knowledge

vermejo, owned by cnn founder ted turner, encompasses 550,000 acres and seven ecosystems in northern new mexico. the expanse of prairie, snow capped peaks and flowing streams are unique, and so are the regenerative and restorative livestock practices that the reserve is developing. 

one practice is range monitoring, a process where ranch and land management staff discover what’s growing and track changes in the edible plant life within an area of land. 

“you can get a lot of information on the landscape’s health based off of range monitoring,” said lance bernal, vermejo’s natural resource manager. the process “gives us an idea of how much production occurred during the growing season. and therefore, if we have high production, then we can actually support more animals. if we have low production, then we have to reduce our animal numbers.”

in 2009, a two year carrying capacity study monitored 61 locations across vermejo. the researchers were trying to understand what food sources were available to grazers. 

now, range monitoring happens annually. geographic information systems specialist sara holm and other vermejo team members keep tabs on 32 transects across the property.

following a call to conserve

the vermejo mantra for their land is ‘eat a third, trample a third and leave a third.’ if the animals leave a third of each ecosystem untouched, the land they walk through and graze on is able to regenerate instead of die off from over use, holm said. 

the staff attributes the health of their animals and broader ecosystems, and their local reputation as ecologically minded, with their attention to detail when it comes to all things soil-related.

“this is a special place,” said ladjevic. “people can say, ‘wow, look how lush this is.’ and i think that’s because we’re taking care of it… because we do that, you look out at these beautiful landscapes and these beautiful places, and that is essentially the fruits of our labor.”

many of vermejo’s staff treat ted turner’s mantra of “save everything” as a mandate, stating that they believe sharing their findings and techniques will only benefit their operation. 

“our work cannot stop at the fence line. there’s no trade secrets,” said ted turner reserves president jade mcbride. embedded in vermejo is a culture of belief that humans can live harmoniously with the ecosystems that surround us. 

how cooperation and knowledge-sharing is key

the reserve’s team members are deepening their connection to the turner institute of ecoagriculture, an agricultural research and education organization focused on sustainable ranching. 

vermejo staff say they want to continue to share their findings, branching into “research, programs, projects, and education that encourage the preservation, conservation, and restoration of sensitive and imperiled species and their habitats.”

“part of our mission in the coming years is to share what is working,” said tor holm, sara holm’s son and a geology intern at vermejo.

kate asmus, a wildlife ecologist, published “spatial ecology of north american bison on vermejo park ranch, new mexico ” with turner institute of ecoagriculture and the nebraska school of natural resources. asumus recently defended her thesis which focused on how and why animal populations, like the vermejo bison, move the way they do.  

asmus feels her paper is essential to the field of wildlife ecology and credits vermejo’s vastness, access and strong community as essential reasons she was able to complete her work. 

“i think it’s really important that [my thesis work]  is published in [established journals] so that other ecologists can gain knowledge and information from what we learned,” asmus said. she later reflected on how these learning outcomes be applied more broadly to help other kinds of researchers with their work. 

asmus’s takeaway from vermejo is larger than academics, it is also about community and person-to-person information sharing.  

“they’re giving us opportunities to be able to come on to these landscapes and to be able to study these animals, which would benefit them, but it’s also benefiting other ecologists,” said asmus. “these are things that i can continue to take with me as i go.”

many of the conservationists at vermejo describe walking the vast acreage of the reserve for work or for pleasure as filling them with awe and an inspiration. 

“why do i do this?” said tor holm, “i see things everyday that a lot of people don’t see in a lifetime.”

editor’s note: this series was made possible with the generous support of turner reserves and contributions by the turner family. all editorial content is published independently. 

planet forward’s environmental media lab led this expedition to teach the power of visual storytelling in wild spaces to convey the beauty and bounty of our planet.