Working Wilderness: The History of the Malpai Borderlands Group and the Future of the Western Range

After more than a century of use for livestock production, Western rangelands are now valued most highly for residential development, even in remote locations. The pressure to subdivide further complicates the political, ecological and economic debates about ranching. The Malpai Borderlands Group is a non-profit organization of ranchers in extreme southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, who have succeeded in securing conservation easements on nearly 100,000 acres of private land; forging cooperative working relationships with scientists, agencies, and landowners; and refocusing debate from cattle to subdivision and fire restoration. Nathan Sayre, author of Ranching, Endangered Species, and Urbanization in the American Southwest: Species of Capital (University of Arizona Press, 2002) will discuss how the Malpai Group has done this and what it might represent for the future of the Western range.