April showers bring new growth and rejuvenation.
One of our newest Guest Activities on The Ranch is Tandem Paragliding. There are a few reasons we’re excited about this one. As work to restore this land, protect its rugged beauty, habitat, wildlife and return it to ecological health through regenerative land management, we are actively pursuing non-consumptive uses for the land.
Paragliding is the perfect activity for a non-consumptive use that celebrates The Land since it is the unique landscape of the Western Slope of Colorado that so gracefully supports this adventure sport.
If you’re unfamiliar with paragliding, keep an eye on our Journal where we’ll share a little of our own research and discovery of it.
Meet our Ranch Services Director.
It’s probably past time for me to introduce myself. My name is Ariel Riccardi and I’m the Ranch Services Director. I joined the team here last May and have been writing the Newsletters since our re-opening announcement last June. I grew up in Montana after my family moved from Pennsylvania to follow the tales of cowboys and big skies. My parents imparted a love of the outdoors, animals, and a strong sense of responsibility for how we move and impact the world around us. I moved to the Denver Metro area of Colorado and slowly adapted to city living. But the call of the mountains and land is strong.
Wanting to find a way to give back to this incredible place and planet we call home, a friend shared a job posting at The High Lonesome Ranch and seeing that many of my personal values were in line with those of The Ranch I eagerly applied. I have found the possibilities and vision here as vast as The Land itself and often have to reign myself in to focus on the immediate task at hand amidst the pull of so many exciting ideas and experiences.
And yes, I have given the Tandem Paragliding Experience a try and I’m excited for my next flight at The Ranch when the road to the top of Cow Ridge is a little less snowy and muddy. Although as eager as the instructors and I are to start flying up there this season, we may not wait and just hike up in classic paraglider hike-and-fly style.
Other news…. The Cows are coming back!
The cows have spent the winter in South Dakota enjoying troughs of natural thermal mineral water and grazing on the more northern plains. The Pine Gulch Fire’s impact on the grazing at The Ranch means that the cows go on their own little adventure stay. This won’t always be the case, as the cattle are an important tool to helping the process of ecological regeneration and rehabilitation of The Land at The High Lonesome Ranch.
Read Dakota’s recent review of a new paper by Randall D. Jackson on why grass-fed cattle are the answers to meeting demand for beef as well as climate mitigation. It may seem like a lot of effort to truck a bunch of cows back and forth but that just reflects how important it is to make sure they eat well. Not long after the cows arrive next week, we’ll get to welcome their calves into the world, and it will really look like spring with the new babies around.
