Wednesday — February 25, 2004

Lava Lake talks
promote new
conservation themes

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

As part of its ongoing work to develop a model sheep ranching operation that achieves new levels of environmental sensitivity, Carey-based Lava Lake Land and Livestock hosted a conference Friday, Feb. 20, to feature the latest schools of thought in conservation planning.

Though the three scientists who attended the forum did not specifically review the Lava Lake operation, they agreed that the company is helping to pioneer new ground in conservation planning.

"The private sector is absolutely critical" to work toward conservation planning in the 21st century, said J. Michael Scott, a senior scientist with the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. "The landscape between nature preserves is increasingly going to be devoted to human development. That presents a challenge."

Lava Lake Land and Livestock, the event’s sponsor, was created out of several sheep outfits bought four years ago by a San Francisco couple named Brian and Kathleen Bean.

The couple’s holdings include the 24,000-acre Lava Lake Ranch and grazing privileges on 730,000 acres of public lands allotments. Most of those are between Shoshone and Carey, but the network of U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and state-owned parcels extends as far as the Boulder Mountains north of Ketchum.

Reed Noss, a professor of conservation biology at the University of Central Florida, said society’s approaches to conservation, while admirable, have not always been enough. The Endangered Species Act’s species-by-species approach often does little to work toward recovery of an entire ecosystem or other species that are in decline but not listed, he said.

A systematic approach, including quantitative goals, efficiency standards and flexibility, is needed to implement a successful conservation plan, he said. Goals must include representing varying ecosystems, considering viable populations, sustaining ecological and evolutionary processes and building a network of conservation preserves.

One method of preserving sensitive species is to focus on a region’s dominant species, Noss said.

Craig Groves, the coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Greater Yellowstone Program, agreed.

"If we can conserve areas for jaguars, we’re going to conserve a lot of other species," he said, citing an example.

Groves said one of the biggest holes in many conservation strategies is that it is difficult for managers to know when they are making a difference.

"There aren’t many places we can point to where we’re doing this right," he said.

Groves said that in Montana’s Madison Valley, where his organization is working to implement a conservation plan in the face of blossoming human growth, the group is focusing on 14 plant and animal species that are specific to particular habitats. By mapping human impacts together with the habitat needs of those 14 species, a rough idea of a conservation plan begins to emerge, he said.

Another critical aspect of conservation planning needs to be creation of a "transparent, idiot proof, one-stop-shopping" resource for landowners and conservation workers to learn about the numerous conservation tools that are available, Scott said.

It will also help to consolidate conservation goals.

"We still don’t have a vision for what the ecological structure of the country will look like," Scott said. "Once we have that vision, we can move forward in a constructive way."

At Lava Lake Land and Livestock, the Beans and the company’s chief operating officer, Mike Stevens, are working to implement a conservation plan.

Stevens a former biologist with TNC, said Lava lake has been collecting data on its holdings for two to three years and is drawing near to a time when it will reveal specifics about what it has been working on.

"We have a draft of a conservation plan that will guide our work," he said.

Brian Bean said the company began by mapping its operating area, which covers roughly 750,000 acres. About 40 percent of that area contains habitat for threatened and endangered species, he said.

Under a strategy similar to Groves’ species-specific outline, Stevens said Lava Lake has targeted eight species and systems to monitor: aspen, riparian areas, sagebrush steppe, coniferous forests, gray wolves, sage grouse, Wood River sculpin and bugleg golden weed.

Bean said it is clear that Lava Lake has not yet done enough to share its philosophy, but said more details will be forthcoming.

"Over the next 18 months, we’re going to get this to a level of stability," he said. "This has to be both permanent and exportable."

Addressing the issue of whether others will follow Lava Lake’s example, Noss said participation would reflect the quality of the job the company is doing.

"You have to lead by example," Noss said. "If you do a good job, eventually a number of people will emulate it."

 

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