George Whitten, along with his wife Julie, own Blue Range Ranch (also known as San Juan Ranch) located in the high desert of Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Originally pastoralists, George and his family have been ranching on the same land for well over a century, and have been practicing regenerative agriculture and holistic land management since 1893, long before either of those terms even existed. Sam Schmidt, a New York City-area native, joined the ranch in 2020 through an apprentice program, and is now the Assistant Ranch Manager, alongside his partner Noelle. George, Sam and I speak about the rise and fall of industrial agriculture, the challenges of making a living from land stewardship, what it means to bridge the divide between environmentalism and agriculture, and how taking a regenerative and holistic approach to the land also means applying those same principles to our relationships and communities.
neat to see you interview ranching folk. on my first field ecology class almost all my students were involved in cowboying, ranching or horses in some way and it really made for ripe convos intersecting domesticated animals and the environment.
Yes! Love that. I interviewed some ranchers a few years back as well - it's a whole other ballgame than my interviews with intellectual, philosophy types, and I love it.
it was interesting to me how philosophical and intellectual my cowboy students were -- and how none of them fit into stereotypes. i've befriended a few neat folks in this realm in the west over the years and I really appreciate the salt of the earth sentiment, as it reminds me of home to an extent, in the south. so many of these folks actually really do love the land. one of my students was giving me a whole story on how cowboying looks different in different places and how further west cowboys have more appreciation for land and beauty, and art and craft, and that texas to montana cowboys (they used to have to move cows up and down between there) have a different view, based on the history of how they had to work in the past, and less appreciation for land and craft like saddle-making.
neat to see you interview ranching folk. on my first field ecology class almost all my students were involved in cowboying, ranching or horses in some way and it really made for ripe convos intersecting domesticated animals and the environment.
Yes! Love that. I interviewed some ranchers a few years back as well - it's a whole other ballgame than my interviews with intellectual, philosophy types, and I love it.
it was interesting to me how philosophical and intellectual my cowboy students were -- and how none of them fit into stereotypes. i've befriended a few neat folks in this realm in the west over the years and I really appreciate the salt of the earth sentiment, as it reminds me of home to an extent, in the south. so many of these folks actually really do love the land. one of my students was giving me a whole story on how cowboying looks different in different places and how further west cowboys have more appreciation for land and beauty, and art and craft, and that texas to montana cowboys (they used to have to move cows up and down between there) have a different view, based on the history of how they had to work in the past, and less appreciation for land and craft like saddle-making.
Super interesting. And yes, salt of the earth vibes for sure.
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