BABBITT TIMES REVIEWC LEARNING—UNDERSTANDING w JOINING—SHARING w BECOMING A PART C

The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches highlights the characteristics and values by which the organization operates. Articles of the Constitution can be found correlating with the news stories in the Babbitt Times Review.

September 2016

Across Babbitt Ranches, scientists are engaged in research to better understand climate change, habitat needs for sensitive and endangered wildlife, invasive plants, riparian restoration, prehistoric cultures, the challenges of space exploration, and even

creatures that have become extinct like Arizonasaurus babbitti.Along with the Landsward

Foundation, Babbitt Ranches is able to promote scientific research to advance the understanding of the ecological, social and economic factors affecting the

Through all of its efforts, Babbitt Ranches embraces a conservation-oriented land use ethic. It tries never to lose sight of the fact that it is part of a much larger community, and that much can be accomplished by partnering with neighbors, non-profit organizations, educational

institutions, businesses, and local, state and federal agencies.As a result, the Babbitt Ranches

Community is Discovering Tomorrow’s Landscape. The wonders and findings of this broad scientific research will be showcased in the Landscape Discover Expo and on display in the Nature Discovery Center at the Arizona Nordic Village.

ues and principles associated with Awareness, Responsibil-ity, Obligation and Account-ability. These core values and principles foster and encourage individual recreation activities

BABBITT TIMES REVIEWC LEARNING—UNDERSTANDING w JOINING—SHARING w BECOMING A PART c

The Constitution of Bab-bitt Ranches highlights the characteristics and val-ues by which the organiza-tion operates. Articles of the Constitution can be found correlating with the news stories in the Babbitt Times Review.

August 2014

Through our efforts of learning and understanding, Babbitt Ranches, a family business and pioneering land company, raises livestock, manages natural resources, promotes science and

participates in the broader community in order to join, share and do the very best we know how.

Promoting An Outdoor Recreation Ethic Attitude

Early hikers, the CO Bar crew, takes a break after hiking to the top of Humphreys Peak around 1900.

Overview The Outdoor Recreation

Ethic Attitude is a commu-nity-based, self-imposed rec-reation management strategy. It calls for develping core val-

Runners and cows shared the landscape as the 9th annual Gaspin’ in the Aspen 5K and 15K runs took off on Saturday, Aug. 23 from the Flagstaff Nordic Center.

Gaspin’ in the Aspen with Cattle

“It’s part of the feel of running here in Flagstaff,” said race di-rector Ian Torrence. “I think it’s fun to see cows grazing nearby.

that emphasize respect and appreciation for the larger land community.

History of Recreation on Babbitt Ranches When pioneers began inhabit-

ing the West, neighbors relied on shared values, respect for others and self-regulation to maintain harmony in a region where law enforcement officers were scarce. Thus, the Code of the West was an unwrit-ten agreement that centered on hospitality, fair play, loyalty and respect for others and the land.The Outdoor Recreation

Ethic Attitude is a return to the Code of the West as Babbitt Ranches encourages opportunities for people to enjoy and appreciate the land through activities such as: scenic viewing, bird watching, wildlife viewing, camping, snow sports, hiking, hunting, fishing, rock climbing, bicycling, picnicking, distance running and environ-mental education outings.

Outdoor Recreation Ethic Attitude Defined Aldo Leopold famously wrote

of the need for a land ethic in his novel, A Sand County Almanac, advocating for an ecological conscience. He wrote:“All ethics so far evolved rest

upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of inter-dependent parts. The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively the land.”Drawing on the ideals of

Leopold’s land ethic, we adopt an Outdoor Recreation Ethic Attitude; a conscience to guide the outdoor recre-ational conduct of individuals, in a manner responsible to the land, and its many uses and users.

… Gaspin' continued on page 6

Adventure continued on page 6

Regis University Men’s Cross Country Team who was par-ticipating with family members. “Also, this is a good bonding experience.”“It’s a great way to get out

in nature,” added 19-year-old Thomas McCullough. Coconino County Health In-

spector Eric Boehn of Flag-staff, a Salomon-sponsored runner, won the half marathon in 1:34:00. “I liked the hill in the middle and the wide open

spaces,” said the 32-year-old. “The vastness is pretty unusual.”Proceeds from

the SP Crater Marathon benefit the Flagstaff Ul-trarunning Club. Event organiz-ers Scott Bajer and Ludo Pierson began scouting the area last fall. “The Babbitts have been great to work with,” said Bajer. “We have a lot of pro runners

in Flagstaff and this run means having another local race.”

from Flagstaff, it can’t get any better than that,” said Arizona Trail Association Executive Director Matthew Nelson.Hosted by Babbitt Ranches,

the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests and the Ari-zona Trail Association, ultra-

runners braved high altitude climbs, sub-freezing over-night temperatures and rocky forest trails by the light of an almost full moon. Aid stations, fea-

turing relics from a century ago such as wagon wheels and restored cabins, dot the landscape every eight miles or so at historic points. The Nature C o n s e r v a n c y ’s Hart Prairie Pre-serve was an origi-

nal stagecoach stop, as was the CO Bar’s Cedar Camp and the Moqui Stage Coach Stop Interpretive Site in the Kaibab National Forest. Another stop, the 1884 Hull Cabin, is the old-

est standing cabin on the Tusayan Ranger District. “The whole

stagecoach route is like a step back in time,” said Neil Weintraub, Kai-bab National For-est archaeologist, distance runner and Arizona Trail volunteer. “There hasn’t been much change except more trees that have grown in. Runners get a feel for what it was like to live here 125

years ago.”Dick Mangum says most of

the stagecoach trips of the late 1800s left Flagstaff early in the morning and arrived at the Grand Canyon in the evening. Travelers could purchase the

Character, Nature and Community have been bred into Babbitt Ranches for more than a century. The values that have made the people of Babbitt Ranches who they are and the characteristics that have shaped the organization into a lasting legacy are captured and articulated in The Con-stitution of Babbitt Ranches. It defines the organiza-tion’s Multiple Bottom Line, Conversation Council Creed, Cowboy Essence, Cowboy Essence Character Qualities, A Land Ethic, Sustainable Community Principles, Human Dimension and Science, Equity Model Fundamentals, Priceless Values and Constitution Commitment. These guide Babbitt Ranches’ organizational, ecological, eco-nomic and community decisions.

As more people move to Ari-zona for its wide-open spaces and recreational opportunities, Arizona State Parks’ chief pub-lic information officer says the outdoor recreation ethic con-tinues to grow along with the number of volunteers eager to protect the natural resources. “Sightseeing, driving around

looking at things, always has been at the top of public rec-reational activities,” says Ellen Bilbrey. “People like to stop and look at plants and all kinds of animals such as elk, deer and birds.” She says birding is becoming

a strong national trend. “We’re

Keeping America and Babbitt Ranches Beautiful

The Flagstaff Nordic Center, primarily known for its 25 miles of premier cross-country skiing trails, is meeting year-round demands from recreationists in-cluding keeping up with the latest trend in mountain biking – fat bikes – while sharing the outdoors with runners, camp-ers and Babbitt Ranches livestock, that have been grazing at the base of the San Francisco Peaks for 130 years.“The CO Bar

runs cattle out here, typically on a three-year rotation self-imposed by the Babbitts to give

Cattle, Runners, Riders, Campers Share Landscape

Article IIICowboy EssenceSection 4.

CooperationListen if you want to be heard. Be interested in

finding the best way, not in having your own way.

Cinder cones, lava flows, grazing cattle, roaming coyotes, miles of grassland and a majes-tic view of the snow-cov-ered San Francisco Peaks are some of the sights runners experienced Sat-urday, March 8, in the first SP Crater Marathon north of Flagstaff.One hundred and two

runners, some from as far away as Alaska, joined in the race. In less than three hours, 37-year-old Adidas-sponsored Flag-staff runner Jason Wolfe won the marathon that took runners across the shoulder of SP Crater and alongside lava flows.“It speaks well of the

running community in Flagstaff for showing people different places,” said Wolfe who finished in 2:56:18. “I saw a coyote dash across the trail. He, no doubt, was running a lot faster than I was.”A team from Kids Run Flag-

staff also participated. “The wind and the washboard roads were tricky,” said 11-year-old Alexandra Zavala who ran the 5K race in 25 minutes. “There was nice scenery and it was fun to see cows gallop-ing across.”The course was

completely on Babbitt Ranches land some 30 miles north of Flagstaff. “Races like this give us the opportunity to participate with the community and promote healthy activities,” said Babbitt Ranches President Bill Cor-dasco. “It’s won-derful to be able to integrate geology, wildlife, scenery, ranching and recreation.” “Running around a crater

First SP Crater Marathon Attracts 102 Runners to Babbitt Ranches

Article IIICowboy Essence

Section 15.

Competitive Greatness

Be at your best when your best is needed.

Enjoy a difficult challenge.

Jason Wolfe of Flagstaff’s Adidas Ultra Team displays his prize, a Babbitt Ranches Pendleton blanket, in front of SP Crater. Wolfe won the first SP Crater Marathon with a time of 2:56:18.

It may well have been northern Arizona’s first ultimate wildland adventure for tourists and the start of organized tourism in Flagstaff. In 1892, the Flagstaff Board of Trade in partnership with the railroad promoted the Stagecoach Line from Flagstaff

to the Grand Canyon. Pub-lic relations efforts included a free trip for travel writers, who praised the journey and the views, and even an appearance by Buffalo Bill!That historic route – through

majestic ponder-osa pine forests, alpine meadows, aspen groves, the wide-open spaces of the Bab-bitt Ranches CO Bar Ranch, and the south rim of the world’s larg-est canyon – has been rediscov-ered by historians Dick and Sherry Mangum, Arizona Trail blazers and now, extreme run-ners. The first Flagstaff to Grand Canyon 100 Mile Stagecoach Line Ultra & Relay occurred the weekend of Oct. 19 and 20, 2013 and will hap-pen again on Sept. 27.“This is one of the most beau-

tiful spots in the state and on the Arizona Trail, and to run all the way to the Grand Canyon

Article IIICowboy EssenceSection 3.

FriendshipMutual esteem, respect

and devotion are the ingredients of an endur-

ing friendship. Like marriage, it must not be

taken for granted but requires a joint effort.

Flagstaff’s Original Tourism Adventure Retraced

Ultra Runners Follow Historic Stagecoach Route to Grand Canyon

Cowboy EssenceCowboy Essence is the self-satisfaction in know-

ing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.

The cowboy culture has long been admired for many won-derful characteristics: hard work, integrity, ambition, self-reliance, family values, confidence, honesty, loyalty, having a relationship with the seasons of the year, and persever-ance through hard times as well as gratitude during the good times.

We are fortunate to have the cowboy culture to remind us of Cowboy Essence. But no matter who we are or where we are in our lives, we all have the opportunity to demonstrate these qualities.

Examples are everywhere as the spirit of the American cowboy filters into all aspects of our communities, culture and society whether we’re a schoolteacher, physician, fire-fighter, law enforcement officer, businessperson, civil service worker, outdoor recreationist, student or family member at home.

The character qualities that make up Cowboy Essence are defined in The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches and reflected in the Babbitt Ranches core values. They have guided the lives of Babbitt Ranches owners and employees for more than a century.

Cowboy Essence creates that peace of mind that comes from knowing our heritage and that we are at our best.

The definition of Article III Cowboy Essence in The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches was inspired by the leadership philosophy of

Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden.

the land a break,” said Nordic Center Owner Wendell John-son. “For a lot of our visitors, seeing cows is exciting. Many

have never seen cattle before. They have the same kind of reaction that I would have if I were to see a herd of large bull elk.”Johnson rents

skis, snowshoes, cabins and bikes. The trails are also used for distance running events such as Gaspin’ in the Aspen and the Flagstaff Marathon.

Fat bikes, also known as snow bikes, are mountain bikes with

in a bird migratory area. Birds come from Mexico and fly over the lands all across Arizona to go north. People love to see all kinds of birds, especially eagles and herons.” And mountain biking con-

tinues to grow in popularity. “People can ride mountain bikes in the parks on some of the trails. Also, the Great West-ern Trail, a motorized 4-wheel drive road, goes up through Babbitt Ranches. Many OHV groups ride together and then riders are not afraid to take off and ride many of the trails. It’s very challenging but popular

where the Apollo astronauts trained is cool,” said 21-year-old Will Sabin, an athlete on the

America continued on page 2

Cattle continued on page 6

Recreation continued on page 2

Coconino Plateau and the Little Colorado River Valley. The mission of the non-profit Landsward Foundation is to provide private landowners and managers with the latest science-based information to support decisions and conservation practices.

Discovering Tomorrow’s Landscape

Wide and Varied Science is promoted, supported and acknowledged by Babbitt Ranches across the Coconino Pla-teau. The goal remains to affect a land ethic so that private and public land managers have science-based knowledge and technologies to support the sound stewardship and conserva-tion of their lands and natural and cultural resources. Focus areas include:

Community and Relationships ◆ Sustainability ◆ Land Use Ethic ◆ Cross-Disciplinary Programs ◆ A Blend of Natural

and Social Sciences ◆ Science and a Sense of ArtInformation Dissemination ◆ Regional Planning.

Conservation Projects support efforts to reintroduce the nearly extinct black-footed ferret; establish a golden eagle conservation area; and develop habitat for pronghorn antelope and other wildlife species.

Conservation Easements preserve open spaces for the enjoyment and participation of generations to come.

◆ Cataract Ranch, 34,000 acres to The Nature Conservancy◆ Cataract Ranch, 6,000 acres to Coconino County◆ CO Bar, 640 acres to Coconino County

Through our efforts of learning and understanding, Babbitt Ranches, a family business and pioneering land company, raises livestock, manages natural resources, promotes science and participates

in the broader community in order to join, share and do the very best we know how.

Character, Nature and Community have been bred into Babbitt Ranches for more than a century. The values that have made the people of Babbitt Ranches who they are and the characteristics that have shaped the organization into a lasting legacy are captured and articulated in The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches. It defines the organization’s Multiple Bottom Line, Conversation Council Creed, Cowboy Essence, Cowboy Essence Character Qualities, A Land Ethic, Sustainable Community Principles, Human Dimension and Science, Equity Model Fundamentals, Priceless Values and Constitution Commitment. These guide Babbitt Ranches’ organizational, ecological, economic and community decisions.

Tom Koronkiewicz has seen almost every part of Babbitt Ranches on foot, on ATV or by truck. “I’ve spent hundreds of hours out there, if not thousands. It gets addictive.” Koronkiewicz is an avian

ecologist with SWCA Environmental Consultants. For the past four years, he’s been catching, tagging and tracking golden eagles as they nest, soar and hunt across the 750,000 acres of Babbitt Ranches. “It’s one of the largest intact

grasslands we have in the Southwest,” he says, which is important for the huge raptors because they prey on animals that live in northern Arizona’s expansive wild lands, mostly jackrabbits, cottontails, prairie

dogs and young pronghorn. “We were looking at the

potential for some renewable energy out there on one of the ranches and I’ll never forget the day I came back and said, ‘You know, we might have to think about something different because there’s an awful lot eagle nests out there.’ And I was a little bit surprised – not too surprised – when Billy (Cordasco) said, ‘That’s great! We got a bunch of golden eagles out there!’ And shortly after that they had come over here at SWCA and said, ‘We want to do a conservation area for golden eagles.’ And that’s where the big work really began.” Scientists say the golden

eagle population is not as large as they’d expect it to be. They

suspect the fragmentation of habitat from development or a warming climate may be having negative effects on them, but they don’t know for sure as not a lot of research has been done on them in the Southwest. So Babbitt Ranches has

identified the golden eagle as one of five species for which it has developed special management strategies in its conservation plans. With the help of SWCA researchers, studies aim to provide a baseline understanding of the current population and how the habitat and prey base might be enhanced to increase the numbers.“If we can figure out a way,

through the management of the ranch and different land

Golden Opportunity with Eagle StudyCowboy Essence

Cowboy Essence is the self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.The cowboy culture has long been admired for many wonderful

characteristics: hard work, integrity, ambition, self-reliance, family values, confidence, honesty, loyalty, having a relationship with the seasons of the year, and perseverance through hard times as well as gratitude during the good times.We are fortunate to have the cowboy culture to remind us of

Cowboy Essence. But no matter who we are or where we are in our lives, we all have the opportunity to demonstrate these qualities. Examples are everywhere as the spirit of the American

cowboy filters into all aspects of our communities, culture and society whether we’re a schoolteacher, physician, firefighter, law enforcement officer, businessperson, civil service worker, outdoor recreationist, student, cowboy or family member at home.The character qualities that make up Cowboy Essence are

defined in The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches and reflected in the Babbitt Ranches core values. They have guided the lives of Babbitt Ranches owners and employees for more than a century. Cowboy Essence creates that peace of mind that comes from

knowing our heritage and that we are at our best.

The definition of Article III Cowboy Essence in The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches was inspired by the leadership philosophy of Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden.

Article IIICowboy EssenceSection 2.

EnthusiasmEnjoyment for

what you are doing motivates those with whom you come into

contact.

… continued on page 3

Bobby, the golden eagle, met wildlife biologists last winter when she was not yet 3-years-old. Scientists attached a small transmitter to the subadult golden eagle so they could track her, and learn more about where eagles go and what they do.“Bobby was found right on

the base of Long Point on the Espee Ranch on Feb. 17, close to where the ferrets were released,” said SWCA avian ecologist Tom Koronkiewicz. “She was out of cell phone reception for more than a week, and then she popped up in northwestern Colorado.”Koronkiewicz explains that

Bobby is doing what teenagers do, “She’s out exploring what’s beyond her neighborhood and figuring out life.”In March, she flew above the

red rocks and green pastures of Utah to spend some time in Steamboat Springs, Colo. To reach her cruising altitude of about 2,000 to 3,000 feet, or half-a-mile above land, Bobby likely used thermal air currents to kettle, or spiral up higher and higher. She flies a mile high at times. And scientists can tell when she’s foraging. If she sees a jackrabbit or prairie dog, she dives to the Earth, which scientists can detect on a computer screen as her elevation pattern comes to an abrupt stop. After enjoying spring in

Colorado, Bobby took a summer vacation over the cool, Medicine Bow Mountains and up into Wyoming, where she spent a couple of days in August feasting on the abundance of food like deer, antelope and elk. She may eventually join other eagles in Idaho and Montana where there are big sheep farms. Koronkiewicz expects Bobby

to visit her home on Babbitt Ranches soon, as golden eagles like to come back to their natal area.“At 5 years old, it will be time

to breed. So she is going to start looking for a nesting area. Any really good place she finds, there will probably be another eagle up there, so there will be territorial disputes”Those fierce battles can take

place hundreds of feet in the air. Koronkiewicz says talons lock and the birds will fight to the death to defend their territory. Research across Babbitt

Ranches reveals 15 territories, including 50 nests that an eagle pair may use alternately. Of the 15 possibilities, Koronkiewicz says four eaglets hatched in April.He notes that at the site

where Bobby was tagged, a camouflaged camera snapped 300 pictures in a two-week time period. “We identified 13 different golden eagles and two bald eagles during that time. These birds would have gone undetected without the images. They just look like black dots in the sky.”Koronkiewicz says 10 golden

eagles currently are using Babbitt Ranches and flying across seven western states. Bobby and his neighborhood friends: Susan, Eddy, Joe and Paul are being tracked by scientists and monitored on Google Earth.

The Adventures of Bobby

Golden eagle ‘teenager’ travels the Southwest

… continued on page 3

Biologists are surveying a 16-mile reach of the Little Colorado River on Babbitt Ranches to understand what plants and animals use the area. Archaeologists will be taking a cultural assessment of the land, as well, which is located north of Wupatki National Monument. Babbitt Ranches is working with Northern Arizona University, the Pullium Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, SWCA Environmental Consultants and other land managers to conduct these studies with the Babbitt

Ranches goal of creating a Little Colorado River Valley Conservation Area.The area covers some 16,826

acres along the 16 miles of the Little Colorado River (LCR) along the CO Bar Ranch lands.The Little Colorado River

flows north to join the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. It is ephemeral in this reach, flowing only in response to seasonal snowmelt and precipitation events.In prehistoric times the river

may have been a perennial

Babbitt Ranches Initiates Little Colorado River Valley

Conservation AreaThe

Constitution of Babbitt RanchesArticle VII

Human Dimension and Science

That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics. – Aldo Leopold

Section 1. Ensure that Babbitt Ranch

land and natural resources are managed in accordance with Babbitt Ranch values.

Section 2. Coordinate policy and

activities with regard to the management of the Babbitt Ranch natural resources.

Section 3.Provide processes for

the resolution of resource management issues and conflicts.

Section 4.Communicate activities

to other agencies and landowners with whom Babbitt Ranches has relationships, and to the owners of Babbitt Ranches.

Section 5.Participate in the

discussion, planning and development of quality regional plans.

They sound like chipmunks or cactus wrens, but before late 2014, the rapid-fire chattering of black-footed ferrets had not been heard on Arizona grasslands since 1929. Some call the reintroduction of 26 ferrets to the Babbitt Ranches Espee Ranch “personal” and “magical.” Some call it a “milestone” after years of wildlife agencies, conservation organizations, tribes and private landowners working together. Bill Cordasco calls it the result of values. Cordasco, president and

general manager of Babbitt Ranches, says everything the land company does, whether it’s mining gravel, harvesting wind, studying climate, shipping cattle or returning an endangered species to its natural habitat, has to do with Babbitts’ land ethics and conservation principles fitting under its fundamental

framework of doing what’s right for the family organization, the economics of business, the environment and the broader community. “It is through these values

that meaningful relationships are formed, community is built, and outstanding research projects can be conducted,” said Cordasco. “The cornerstone of everything Babbitts does is ‘Cowboy Essence,’ which means being your best.”

Black-Footed Ferrets Reintroduction Effort may have global heath implications

… continued on page 3

Through all of its efforts, Babbitt Ranches embraces a conservation-oriented Land Use Ethic.

page 2 September 2016BABBITT TIMES REVIEW

Babbitt Ranches Community Prayer

We thank you Lord, for this place in which we live; for the love and friendships that unite us and for the peace accorded to us this day: for the hope with which we expect tomorrow—for the health, food and the bright skies that make our lives happy—for our friends everywhere.Let peace abound in our families. Purge out of our

hearts the hidden grudge. Give us the grace and strength to practice self-control. Give us the will to accept and to forgive each other. Give us brave, joy-ous and peaceful minds. Bless us in all our honest and sincere endeavors.If it may be, give us the courage to face that which

is to come—that we may be brave in risk, constant in difficulty—temperate in anger—and in all changes of fortune; loyal, true and loving one another.

Amidst the crowd of several hundred spectators were Justin, Jessica and 3-year-old Had Greer. The California family kept cowboy Scott Westlake busy keeping track of their bids in the Annual Colt Sale on Saturday, July 9. At the end of the day, the Greer’s were the event’s volume buyers, purchasing eight colts for Greer Livestock and ending the auction in a lively bidding competition for a sorrel colt at $15,500, a Babbitt Ranches record. Earlier in the day, they purchased the colt’s half-sister.“These are good

ranch horses and they are raised in pretty rough country similar to what we have," said Justin. “We use a lot of horses and we’ve bought a lot of cattle from the Babbitts.”Last winter, the Greer’s shipped

600 head of Babbitt Ranches Hereford cattle to their G & G Ranches operation in California and 600 to Colorado. Brian Kemp of Ontario, Canada

was also an active participant in

the crowd. “They’re all good,” he said after successfully bidding on five horses. Kemp has visited Babbitt Ranches six times. He’s attended three Colt Sales, two as a buyer.

“It was ou t s t a nd ing ,” said auctioneer Ron Burnt. “We had a really e n t h u s i a s t i c crowd. There were a number of repeat buyers and a number of new buyers, just a lot of energy from everybody.” The 2016

Annual Colt Sale opened with a warm welcome from Babbitt

Ranches President and General Manager Bill Cordasco. In memory of Fon Cordasco, Ranch Manger Victor Howell read a passage about attitude, which Fon shared at a Colt Sale two years ago. “I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes,” he read.In all, 32 colts and fillies were

sold at Spider Web Camp.

Cowboy EssenceThe Annual Colt Sale began

in the 1990s as a way to bring together the large Babbitt family and community through a traditional western ranch experience. Hundreds of people come to see the colts and fillies as cowboys on horseback bring them in across the vast expanse of northern Arizona. Serious horse buyers travel from all over, even other countries, for Babbitt Ranches colts. “Some may think the Annual

Colt Sale is about buying and selling horses, but the Babbitt Ranches Community intention is much broader than that. It’s about sharing and participating, and being grateful for the day, the wide open spaces, the extended community, the grass-fed hormone-free premium beef barbecue and the opportunity to gather together,” said Cordasco. Above all, the Annual Colt Sale

is an opportunity to demonstrate and be mindful of Cowboy Essence, he added, which is a founding principle of The Constitution of Babbitt Ranches and is in everyone.

Hashknife HorsesBabbitt Ranches horses carry

the legendary Hashknife brand. A

“hashknife” is a kitchen tool used for making beef hash. It has a half circle steel blade, attached to a wooden handle, that is rocked back and forth across cooked beef to create hash. However, the brand signifies much more. It originally belonged to the Aztec Land & Cattle Company, which operated in northern Arizona from 1884 to 1902. It then became the property of the Babbitt family. With careful consideration of

pedigree, Babbitt Ranches has developed a successful American Quarter Horse breeding program largely from descendants of the early Hashknife horses and the Driftwood (champion rodeo American Quarter Horse) lineage. They have a worldwide reputation for being solid all-around ranch horses with cow sense that can work all day and maneuver across rocky terrain. With speed, looks, ability and a good disposition, the horses are often winners in the rodeo arena – from local high school competitions to world championships. Babbitt Ranches horses are said to be tough enough for the working cowboy, yet gentle enough for young cowboys and cowgirls.

Colt Sale Celebrates Babbitt Ranches CommunityThey are strong, smart and beautiful, but it’s not all about the horses

Article IIICowboy Essence

Section 12.

Ranch SpiritA genuine consideration

for others fosters an eagerness to sacrifice personal interests and

glory for the betterment of others. It is not about

I but We.

This buckskin colt went for $7,800 at the 2016 Annual Colt Sale. “When this colt looks at you, he's got intelligence written all over him,” said Victor Howell, ranch manager.

Fon Rena Cordasco

Ben Donegan

Bernice Lopp

George Raymond Lopp

Alan Dale Howes

Catherine Ramsey

The presentation of a single yellow rose is a tradition of Babbitt Ranches. This tradition allows us to reflect

and to embrace our passed loved ones and to share this embrace with their families. Our thoughts are with those

lives lived well, who will forever stay in our hearts.

A Yellow Rose

A Yellow RoseIts gentle beauty reminds us of the love our family and friends have for us… Its soft yellow hue symbolizes the hope and joy that comes with tomorrow’s sunrise… Its loveliness lives on in our hearts and reminds us of those who have wonderfully graced our lives and who will always

remain in our thoughts and prayers.

The Community of Babbitt Ranches fondly remembers beloved friends.

Article IVCowboy Essence

Character QualitiesSection 11.

GratitudeThe art of being

grateful for all things.

Article IIICowboy Essence

Section 11.

SkillBe prepared with knowl-edge and the ability to

properly and quickly ex-ecute the fundamentals.

Cover every detail.

Film Maker Offers New Perspective For the first time, the Babbitt

Ranches landscape and operations have been captured from the air by drone and on horseback by GoPro. So now, viewers can click on the Internet and experience the tradition of a cattle drive without the dust or the fun of a snowball fight without the cold! F i l m m a k e r ,

drone pilot and p h o t o g r a p h e r Chad de Alva, of Lightforce

Media, has produced short videos covering the Annual Colt Sale, a cattle drive, cattle shipment, branding and activities at Arizona Nordic Village.“One of the

coolest moments came when I realized, when you are looking from the air straight down on a bunch of cattle, they kind of swarm around like fish

in the ocean. I have a few shots

showing how they move like a school of fish.” De Alva says the projects have

been interesting as he’s never been exposed to western cattle ranching. “You don’t see a lot of videos about ranching activities. It’s been really fun to create those.”The films showcase the

vastness of the ranchlands, the beauty of Arizona sunsets and the fun of playing in the snow on skis and bikes.“To sum up my experience

with Babbitt Ranches, it really is about Cowboy Essence. I’ve heard so many comments about how Babbitts use the land in a sustainable way and how they

have their heart in the right place. It makes you feel good when you’re working with someone with such a great reputation.”De Alva noticed The

Constitution of Babbitt Ranches hanging on the wall in the Babbitt Ranches Board Room while shooting a project for Babbitt’s Backcountry Outfitters. “Just reading that, I equated the Babbitt Ranches philosophy as a guide for how to be a good human.”For a look at the videos, go

to http://www.babbittranches.com/519-2/ or https://vimeo.com/user5549992. De Alva can be reached at chad@lightforcemedia.com.

Retiring the Iconic Grand Canyon Cafe The Babbitt Ranches Community celebrates Fred and Tina Wong who have owned and operated the Grand Canyon Cafe for 36 years. The Wong family has operated the iconic Route 66 restaurant since 1945, which has served coffee and comfort to generations of locals. “A visit to the Grand Canyon Cafe was just part of the day for us. It was an important thread in the fabric of our lives,” said Babbitt Ranches President and General Manager Bill Cordaso.

Babbitt Ranches is a Community within a Commu-nity integrated with broadly diverse groups of individuals with varying thoughts, interests, skills and history. With yourself, with family and friends, with the community and with the environment, one way or another and in the end, relationships are all there is. Thus, it’s simply not just about things and doing things, but about the meaning of things. With a genuine consideration for others, LifeScapes pro-vides a venue through which Babbitt Ranches participates with the community.

Coconino Plateau ForecastMeteorologists are predicting a normal fall and

winter for precipitation across the Coconino Plateau.“There aren’t any strong signals regarding weather

patterns that might influence the seasonal forecast. We have a weak La Niña that will persist through the winter, but there really shouldn’t be much of an impact,” said National Weather Service Flagstaff Meteorologist in Charge Brian A. Klimowski, Ph.D.On average, the Flagstaff area receives 100 inches

of snowfall. Klimowski says in the past couple of years, the area has averaged only about 70 inches in snow, but rainfall has made up for it. The last time the Flagstaff area received 100 inches of snow was the winter of 2011-2012.

P. O. Box 520 Flagstaff, AZ 86002928.774.6199www.babbittranches.com

Beefing Up the CommunityThe Poore Medical Clinic and

Sid Davis Memorial Dental Clinic continue to provide free health care to those in need. Community supporters like Babbitt Ranches help the volunteer doctors, dentists and nurses continue to provide their services by donating to the annual Beans and Rice Fundraiser each September at the Orpheum Theater. Babbitt Ranches supplied

a steer again this year – quartered, vacuum-packed and frozen – for the auction. The beef brings in about three thousand dollars.Earlier this summer at the Colt

Sale, 1-pound packages of CO

Bar premium ground beef were made available for donations through the Babbitt Ranches Open Hands Country Beef program. A total of $1,237 was raised for Vista Hospice (formerly Northern Arizona Hospice) in exchange for the frozen meat. Elsewhere, the Rocky

Mountain Elk Foundation raised more than $1,000 for wildlife projects from the auction of donated Babbitt Ranches Pendleton blankets and other merchandize. Charitable donations are

made possible through the Babbitt Ranches LifeScapes program.

September 2016 BABBITT TIMES REVIEW page 3

Black-Footed Ferrets Reintroduction Effort continued from page 1

Golden Eagle Study continued from page 1

management techniques, we may be able to increase the number of eagles that are hatched out on the ranch and adjacent property every year. We call that ecological uplift,” says SWCA Environmental Consultants founder Steven W. Carothers, Ph.D. So far, researchers have found

15 nesting areas on Babbitt Ranches. “But also it’s a very important area for wintering golden eagles that come down from as far north as Alaska, Montana and Idaho,” said Koronkiewicz. “We also have a big population of subadults. Eagles don’t attain breeding status until they are 5 years old, so until then they float and wander. They don’t establish territories yet, but they still use the landscape on Babbitt Ranches to complete their life

cycle until a breeding area is established.”In order to track them,

researchers bate the golden eagles, catch them and affix transmitters – like tiny backpacks – to the birds. Using telemetry and cell phones, data is transmitted every 15 minutes revealing the eagles’ locations in a maze of lines on a computer screen as the raptors soar across miles of grassland and return to their cliff-top nests south of the Grand Canyon.“I oftentimes call them

‘anxiety transmitters,’” says Koronkiewicz, “because when they’re out of cell phone reception and they’re not downloading data every day, sometimes I worry about the birds. Did the transmitter fail? Did the bird go somewhere else? Did something happen to the bird?”

“We’re really interested in making sure the Babbitt Ranches remain a great conservation area for the eagles,” said Carothers. As part of the effort, Babbitt Ranches encourages hunters to discontinue the use of lead-based ammunition, which can poison golden eagles if they ingest fragments of lead bullets from animal carcasses.“The Babbitts are very well

respected and admired for the land management that they’ve got and for the production of livestock that they put out,” said Carothers. “It’s not like they’ve taken all the cows and all the horses off and are just letting things grow back to nature. They are actually managing a great livestock operation and they’re doing it in such a way that the natural species are being protected as well.”

Little Colorado River Valley Conservation Area continued from page 1

stream, but upstream diversions have reduced the flow.An alluvial aquifer borders

the river, providing moisture to the roots of riparian vegetation even during the dry months. The river carries a heavy load of silt and dissolved solids, particularly salt.Little Colorado River Valley

Conservation Projects include; Little Colorado River Riparian Restoration, Milestone Reclamation Project and

Cultural Resource Management Studies.Goals of these projects include

removing nonnative vegetation; establishing native cottonwood and willow trees; restoring native riparian habitat along the LCR; reintroducing sensitive species such as the northern leopard frog; completing a work plan along with the EPA to reclaim the Milestone site to natural conditions; preserving and studying

prehistoric cultural resources within the Little Colorado River Valley Conservation Area and providing field learning opportunities for students of archaeology. The Babbitt Ranches

Community promotes a Land Use Ethic which enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals – collectively the land.

Cordasco is quick to point out that you don’t have to be a cowboy to have cowboy essence. For example, leading up to the release of black-footed ferrets into the wild, much focused and dedicated groundwork had to be done by hundreds of individuals across the country.

A Vaccine for the PlagueOne important component of

the successful reintroduction effort involved scientists at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisc. Under the direction of veterinarian Dr. Jonathan Sleeman, researchers have been tenaciously developing a vaccine to protect prairie dogs against the sylvatic plague.“Black-footed ferrets and

prairie dogs, which are the most important prey base for black-footed ferrets, are both very susceptible to plague,” says Sleeman. “So what we’ve been developing over the past 10 years or so is a vaccine that we could distribute out in the environment to give to prairie dogs so that we could protect them and vaccinate them against plague and hopefully protect the prairie dogs as well as the ferrets.”The infectious sylvatic plague

is spread by the same organism that causes bubonic and pneumonic plague in humans. Sylvatic, or sylvan, means ‘occurring in wildlife,’ and refers specifically to the form of plague that affects rodents. It is primarily transmitted through flea bites.Infectious disease expert Paul

Keim, Ph.D., with Northern Arizona University, says the bacterium interferes with the flea’s digestive system. “It doesn’t allow the blood meal to get to its stomach so the insect is starving and jumping from animal to animal to try to satisfy its hunger. At the same time, the infected blood is being injected into the animal with each flea bite and that’s how it spreads.”Wildlife biologist Bill Van Pelt,

grasslands coordinator with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, has been involved in releasing a number of endangered species into the wild including the Mexican wolf, the California condor and now the black-footed ferret. He and a team of biologists drove the 26 ferrets from Denver, for the Oct. 1, 2014 release, where they were being raised in captivity and trained to hunt.“The black-footed ferret is

the only native ferret to North America. It thrived within the prairie dog colonies for centuries and then in 1905, the bubonic plague was introduced into the country from the ships coming in to port there in California,” he said. “It got into the wild population and spread eastward then. It just decimated the prairie dog populations. They don’t have a natural immunity and so they die off. Since the prairie dog is the primary prey for the black-footed ferret, the ferret lost its prey base.”The weasel-like creature with

the tan face, black rings around its eyes, sharp teeth and long tail was thought to be extinct twice. But in 1981, a small colony of 120 black-footed ferrets was found in Meeteetse, Wyo. Disease outbreaks then reduced the population to 18, rendering it the most endangered mammal on the continent. The ferrets were captured and protected. Today, all of the 500 or so existing black-footed ferrets are descendants of the surviving 18.Before the vaccination was

created, wildlife managers dusted prairie dog colonies to kill fleas that may carry disease. Drawbacks included the widespread use of chemicals and expense. U.S. Geological Survey Associate Director for Ecosystem Science Anne Kinnsinger, who oversees 16 science centers from Alaska and Hawaii to Florida, says the biggest challenge with vaccinating prairie dogs is that they spend a lot of time underground. “We knew we had to bring

the vaccine to them rather than us trying to find them,” she said. “So we experimented with a lot of different flavors including blueberry and several other ones and we found they vastly prefer peanut butter. So that’s

why we developed the vaccine the way we did, so it would be something they would actively seek out rather than us trying to capture them and vaccinate them manually.”So, like a prairie dog hors

d’oeuvre, the peanut butter flavored vaccine-laced cracker has been delivered like room service to the animals’ burrows on Espee Ranch.For additional protection,

the 26 ferrets were vaccinated against plague before being released. Each ferret is expected to live in the prairie dog dens and eat a prairie dog a week, as did their ancestors.

Arizona’s First Release on a Private Working RanchThe historic release of the

endangered ferrets to a private working ranch is the first in Arizona under a special federal conservation tool in the Endangered Species Act called the Safe Harbor Agreement. It allows private l a n d o w n e r s to conserve endangered species on their property with minimal land-use restrictions. Ranchers typically regard prairie dogs as a risk to livestock because the burrows they dig are tripping hazards to cows and horses. In addition, the existence of an endangered species on property can require regulations that may impede business operations.“A Safe Harbor Agreement

allows ranchers to participate in species recovery while simplifying and guaranteeing certainty for their business options in the future,” said Steve Spangle, Arizona field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.“Milestones like this release

of endangered ferrets onto private land are significant accomplishments on the road to meeting Arizona’s – and national – recovery goals. It’s a true demonstration of the power of cooperative wildlife conservation because ferret recovery would never have been possible without our partners at Babbitt Ranches, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Phoenix Zoo, Navajo Nation and others,” said Larry Voyles, director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.Steven Caruthers of SWCA

Environmental Consultants who works with Babbitt Ranches to develop conservation plans for the land company’s three ranches in northern Arizona calls science conservation a “mighty big term.”“What we’re trying to do is

balance human use of the land with conservation of it and keep all of the values. Not only are we interested in water and forage and open spaces, but we’re interested in protecting endangered species like the black-footed ferret,” he says. “It’s a real balancing act to be able to have the human values realized and do the conservation at the same time. While we have federal and state wildlife management agencies, it is the private landowner that drives the system. And If you’re going to

work with Babbitt Ranches you better be ready to listen and you better listen carefully because they’ve got some incredible ideas and it’s to their credit really and that of the Ranch Council that 26 black-footed ferrets are released into the wild in an area where prairie dogs have been protected from disease. Babbitt Ranches is the key to that.”

Possible Global ImpactBesides moving an

endangered species a step away from extinction, taking the experimental plague vaccine from the laboratory to the field may prove to have global health implications for other animals, including humans.“Plague is a well-known disease

worldwide,” said Sleeman. “The vaccine we’ve been developing has been with the goal of protection of the black-footed

ferrets and the prairie dogs. But if this is successful, this vaccine could have other applications. There are about five to 10 human deaths in North America each year and there are deaths in other parts of the world. So we could potentially use this vaccine to control plague in other environments across the world and for a public health purpose, as well.”

Spotlighting SuccessMonitoring how well the

vaccine is working and if the ferrets are surviving is Black-footed Ferret Project Wildlife Specialist Jennifer Cordova with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. She and her team conduct searches on Espee Ranch twice a year in the national effort to save the species.“We use high-powered

spotlights to find them and they have a brilliant green eye shine. Hopefully we’ll re-capture some of these guys to make sure they’re still alive.” Cordova also maps prairie dog colonies on the Espee Ranch to make sure prairie dog numbers are adequate to maintain a self-sustaining population of the black-footed ferret. “More than 95 percent of the ferret’s main diet is prairie dog. They live in the prairie dog burrows and give birth in the burrows. When there is a thriving population of prairie dogs, the ferrets have a food source. Many other animals eat prairie dogs also, such as golden eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes and badgers. Having prairie dogs can also help maintain a healthy prairie ecosystemFor Terry Johnson, who began

his career more than 30 years ago as the first endangered species and non-game endangered wildlife branch chief for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the ferret release has become a professional and personal mission. “This is kind of a full circle for me. Bill Cordasco reached into his heart and said ‘let’s make this happen.’”With his granddaughters

looking on, Johnson, the sylvatic plague coordinator for the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, opened the cage for the first ferret to explore its new world on Espee Ranch.“It’s a magical moment,” he

said.

When wildlife biologists were looking for healthy grassland to ensure the best success for prairie dog colonies, the vast open range of Espee Ranch, with its vigorous community of plants and animals, low shrub cover, scenic rock outcroppings and dramatic cliffs, rose to the top of the list.For Al Eiden, of the Arizona

Game and Fish Department, ensuring optimum habitat of any kind is what attracted him to his profession. Currently the landowner relations and habitat enhancement program supervisor, Eiden is involved in prairie dog conservation projects. The Babbitt’s Espee Ranch is one of two major sites in the state where wildlife biologists are

intensely focused on these small mammals. “Arizona is an awesome place

for land and wildlife. But it’s even more rewarding to work with landowners who promote conservation efforts, like Babbitt Ranches. Aldo Leopold said a long time ago that government organizations working with landowners is what’s going to make the difference. What we’re talking about is improving grassland and ranch conditions for lots and lots of species.”Eiden says prairie dogs are an

indicator species of grassland health. “For a long time ranchers were poisoning them and knocking back populations because prairie dogs would eat the grass and cause problems

for cattle. But they are a primary prey base for black-footed ferrets, so prairie dogs are an important part of the effort to recover the endangered ferret.The Arizona Game and Fish

Department, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Babbitt Ranches are working together to stabilize the prairie dog population. “Right now and for a long

time, Espee Ranch has been our primary focus,” said Eiden. “We’re working with the Babbitts on a program that will allow funding for research to develop an effective plague vaccine for prairie dogs. Plague is the biggest threat to their populations.

Keeping Prairie Dogs Healthy

Article VA Land Ethic

Section 5.

A thing is right when it tends to preserve

the integrity, stability and beauty of the

biotic community. It is wrong when it tends

otherwise.

Rabbit Research Resulting in Sleepless Nights

Article IIICowboy EssenceSection 7.

AlertnessObserve constantly. Stay open-minded.

Be eager to learn and improve.

Northern Arizona University biology graduate student Dana Green has been spending her nights, sometimes up to 20 at a time, scouring the CO Bar. She’s driving every road and using a spotlight to find out how many black tail jackrabbits and cottontails live out there.Green’s research will be

used to create a model of the grassland habitat to understand what the prey situation looks like in golden

eagle nesting territory. The information will help Babbitt Ranches understand what desirable habitat means in terms of rabbit populations and how the components of that healthy ecosystem can be replicated elsewhere.One product of the research

will be a high resolution map that will meld GIS spacial modeling with Green’s on-the-ground findings.

Nature Discovery Center to Showcase Science, Outdoor Recreation Ethic AttitudeWith the acquisition of the

Nordic Center, now Arizona Nordic Village, Babbitt Ranches has a facility that’s easily accessible to the public where science discoveries can be shared and the Outdoor Recreation Ethic Attitude can be encouraged. A

new yurt completed this summer will become home to the Nature Discovery Center where science-based organizations can display their findings.The Outdoor Recreation Ethic

Attitude is about behaviors and actions with a self-imposed focus

on awareness, responsibility, obligation and accountability. Babbitt Ranches promotes this through educational and experimental outreach efforts, which will be major components of the Nature Discover Center.“The Outdoor Recreation Ethic

Attitude encourages a broader sense of individual awareness of our use and activities, and a better understanding of our place in the community,” says Babbitt Ranches President and General Manager Bill Cordasco.Through its Outdoor Recreation

Ethic Attitude, Babbitt Ranches strives to: instill an Outdoor Recreation Ethic Attitude in private land visitors; encourage self-regulating recreation on Babbitt Ranches; engage in an awareness campaign with other natural resource agencies,

conservation organizations and recreational groups to inform and educate recreationists about appropriate ethics-based behavior; and monitor the effects of the awareness campaign.

Retiring the Iconic Grand Canyon Cafe The Babbitt Ranches Community celebrates Fred and Tina Wong who have owned and operated the Grand Canyon Cafe for 36 years. The Wong family has operated the iconic Route 66 restaurant since 1945, which has served coffee and comfort to generations of locals. “A visit to the Grand Canyon Cafe was just part of the day for us. It was an important thread in the fabric of our lives,” said Babbitt Ranches President and General Manager Bill Cordaso.

Wupatki National Monument is re-photographing archaeological sites and associated landscapes to better understand changes to the environment that affect the condition of each site. “We are using black and white

photographs from a pedestrian survey of the monument’s archaeological sites in the 1980s as a baseline, to assess changes to archaeological features and the surrounding landscape

including vegetation, soils and geological landforms,” said Cultural Resources Program Manager and archaeologist Ian Hough. The Flagstaff Area National

Monuments Cultural Resources Program also preserves Native American and historic European structures when necessary to stabilize and slow the rate of deterioration. “These two projects are

embedded in a landscape

that extends far beyond the boundaries of Wupatki National Monument. Understanding landscape scale changes within the monument depends on an understanding of the uses and changes on the landscape that surrounds the monument, such as on Babbitt Ranches,” said Hough. “The implementation of research and preservation projects depends on cooperation and partnerships with surrounding landowners.”

Understanding Broad Landscape Changes is Important for Wupatki Preservation

September 2016BABBITT TIMES REVIEWpage 4 September 2016 BABBITT TIMES REVIEW page 5

September 2016BABBITT TIMES REVIEWpage 6

Unusually detailed tracks, showing the scales on the bottom of the foot of Arizonasaurus babbitti or something like it, are available to researchers at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Photo by Christa Sadler and the Museum of Northern Arizona

Arizonasaurus babbitti Ruled the Region 240 million Years AgoRemains of prehistoric creature found on Babbitt Ranches helping researchers understand Middle Triassic

Plant Survey Leads to Conservation of Biotic Communities

It began as a survey of plants on 42,000 acres of conservation easement lands donated by Babbitt Ranches to The Nature Conservancy and Coconino County. However, the project has resulted in more information about rare plants, specimens preserved for study in research collections, and the Range Plant Handbook: A Field Guide to the Plants of Babbitt Ranches and Coconino Plateau.“Prior to this, little was

known about the occurrence and distribution of plants on the Coconino Plateau,” said Greg Goodwin, a retired Forest Service wildlife biologist. Goodwin has had a lifelong

interest in plant ecology, wildflower photography and the conservation of rare plants. “The project to document the flora of Babbitt Ranches, with an emphasis on rare plants presented a unique opportunity to work with the organization, which encouraged and supported this work. It was also an opportunity to learn about the plant communities and rare plants of the Coconino Plateau in a relatively pristine Southwest

g r a s s l a n d . O b t a i n i n g information on rare plants will contribute to the continued existence of these species in northern Arizona.” Among the

plants Goodwin has documented is the very tiny cactus known as Fickeisen plains cactus, now listed as an endangered

species. He found 300 of these plants, mostly near Cataract Canyon. They grow close to the ground and are well camouflaged, as they are the same color as the rocky landscape around them. “It’s a very small, circular

cactus about the size of a quarter. It is a very obscure, hard-to-see plant that grows in flat, limestone gravel.”The Grand Canyon rose is

another rare plant that Goodwin found in five new locations along the rim of Cataract Canyon. A reddish/pinkish flower blooms in June and is a couple of inches wide. Shrubs grow to about two- to three-feet tall in thickets on limestone ledges. “They have very large stiff

white spines on the stems,” he said. “The thorns keep them extremely well protected.”

A third rare plant finding is known as Grand Canyon goldenweed or Ericameria arizonica. It’s a small shrub that grows to be about a foot high and in late summer becomes covered with an abundance of small yellow flowers. It was previously known only from Grand Canyon and the lower canyon of the Little Colorado River. This species grows in cracks and crevices on Kaibab limestone boulders in a few locations along the very edge of Cataract Canyon. The known distribution of this species has been expanded by its recent discovery on Babbitt Ranches.The comprehensive survey,

the first ever in the area, provides information about plant communities on northern Arizona grasslands on the southern part of the Colorado Plateau. It is being used by Babbitt Ranches to establish an ecological baseline and determine the long-term management and protection of these species.Samples of most of the 350

species found on Cataract and Espee ranches are now part of a permanent collection of dried pressed plants in Northern Arizona University’s Deaver Herbarium and the Museum of Northern Arizona’s McDougall Herbarium. (See related story Rare Cactus)

Article VICowboy Essence

Character Qualities

Section 9.

PatienceThe ability to wait and

calmly persevere.

Tracking Mountain Lions to Measure Ecosystem Health

Scientists want to know how northern Arizona’s mountain lions and other big mammals are being impacted by changes to their environment. Kirsten Ironside, Ph.D., is

an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southwest Biological Science Center. She says cougars and other large predictors are considered indicator species, meaning how well their populations are doing is a measure of overall ecosystem health. “Because the home ranges of

these large predators are also quite large, they inherently necessitate a landscape perspective in terms of cross jurisdictional boundaries, a wide array of environments, a variety of human disturbances, habitat connectivity, and distribution of prey species.” Ironside is using satellite

technology to track the big cats as they move through their expansive home range from the ponderosa pine forest of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim to the high desert grasslands of Camp Verde. “As we enter what many

scientists are calling the Anthropocene, human population increase is contributing to habitat loss,

alteration, and contamination. Many large mammals of the Southwest have been extirpated or gone extinct over the last century, animals such as Merriam's elk, grizzly bears, wolves and jaguars,” she says. “Those that remain are currently subject to several factors that could influence their long-term fitness.”Ironside wants to know

how ecosystems have functioned in the past, how current human activities are affecting wildlife, and how potential future pressures on wildlife populations can be anticipated. Her research is providing information on mountain lion behavior across a variety of different vegetation communities over many seasons and many years. She’s studying the abundance of their prey species as well, along with their habitat connectivity needs. “The mission of USGS

and the Babbitt Ranches Landsward Foundation are much the same, to promote research of the ecology and biota of the landscape to support conservation and sustainability for society and future generations,” says Ironside. “Babbitt Ranches

provides quality habitat for cougars and their prey, and serves as an important movement corridor for subadult dispersal to and from the Grand Canyon area and areas to the south.” The USGS Southwest

Biological Science Center has been studying cougars since 2003. Her research also includes mule deer, bighorn sheep and elk. Her expertise is in spatial modeling of natural systems using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She plans to create maps of mountain lion movement on Babbitt Ranches to further understand how the animals use the landscape for key movement corridors, highway crossing sites and core habitat.

Article VISustainable Community PrinciplesSection 5.

Respects other forms of life and supports

biodiversity;

Rare Cactus Thrives in Surprising SpotThe Fickeisen plains cactus is

no taller than the tip of a human thumb with a round head almost the exact color of the gravel ledges where it grows. Under extreme cold or heat, the plant makes itself even harder to find, retracting into the ground until conditions improve. It’s only during the spring when the cactus unfolds a creamy yellow flower that the prickly plant is possible to spot.Despite its understated nature,

the Fickeisen plains cactus has

recently captured the focus of conservationists. After being listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013, the agency last month designated 17,456 acres in parts of Coconino and Mohave counties as critical habitat for the cactus, a crucial step toward its protection.The succulents, which often

grow along rocky ledges, survive only in those two northern Arizona counties and their numbers are dwindling

due to water and heat stress associated with climate change-driven drought, small mammalian predation and habitat disturbance from livestock grazing.But in its designation of critical

habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deliberately left out one large swath of land where several significant populations of the cactus are found. A total of 20,113 acres of private and state lands owned or managed by Babbitt Ranches –

more land than was conserved -- have been designated as excluded from this elevated level of protection.“Their holistic approach

to managing their land use activities with the economic and social communities has contributed to the existence of a large, reproducing Fickeisen plains cactus population,” the agency wrote. Instead of posing a threat to the cactus, the company’s ranching practices are helping to maintain an

environment where the species is able to hang on.In an interview last week, Bill

Cordasco, president and general manager of Babbitt Ranches, credited the company’s central focus on maintaining healthy grasslands for the success of the Fickeisen plains cactus. When the company found out the cactus was being considered for endangered species listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it went further, creating a management plan for the cactus

At least 10 million years before dinosaurs ruled the world, very large and probably fierce reptiles dominated the muddy coastal plains of what are now northern Arizona and New Mexico. Scientists say Arizonasaurus babbitti, a primitive crocodile-like meat-eater, was among the very first. Research into the 13-foot-long carnivore has shed light on the Middle Triassic age and paleontologists believe the predator has more to tell.L e a d i n g

Ar i zonasaurus babbitti expert, v e r t e b r a t e pa leonto log is t Sterling Nesbitt, Ph.D., continues to scour the S o u t h w e s t looking for more of the creature’s f o s s i l i z e d remains. A Mesa native, Nesbitt grew up hunting for fossils with his parents in northern Arizona’s vast open spaces. In 2002, while just a sophomore at University of California, Berkeley, he led a team that found an almost complete skeleton fossilized in rock that was 240 million years old near Winslow. Those remains – the skull,

scapula, vertebrae and pelvic bones – became the biggest ever Arizonasaurus babbitti discovery. The findings helped fill in the early evolutionary chapter about the crocodilian branch of the archosaur family tree. The dinosaurs, distant relatives of Arizonasaurus (Arizona lizard), are archosaurs that took a different evolutionary path and eventually gave rise to today’s birds. Arizonasaurus babbitti’s ancient bones also formed the foundation of Nesbitt’s scientific career. Since his finding, he has traveled the world looking for traces of other archosaurs in ancient rocks of the same time period and is an assistant professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech University.

Characteristics of a Ruling Reptile“The Arizonasaurus skeleton

started to solidify what these early archosaurs looked like when archosaurs really started to diversify,” he said. “It’s the first glimpse of the Age of Reptiles where they became the dominant life form on our planet. It’s one of the earliest large reptiles that we know about (during the Middle Triassic).”

A l t h o u g h neither the tail nor limbs have been found, Nesbitt believes the Arizonasaurus babbitti moved low to the ground and was qu ad r upeda l , meaning it walked on all fours, based on the shape of the pelvic and shoulder girdles

and what’s known about other relatives of the time. The tail is believed to have made up half the length of the creature.Paleontologist Christa Sadler

has written a book, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, about the archosaurs of the Middle and Late Triassic in the region. “It’s absolutely an extraordinary time period. This is when the seeds of the modern faunas that we have today really started to appear. And Arizonasaurus is part of that.”One of Arizonasaurus babbitti’s

distinguishing characteristics is the fin on its back. “It had what we call a sail. The protrusions on the vertebrae, which make up the backbone, were lengthened to form long bony spines. There would have been a big flap of skin over those to create this sail,” she says. “And probably these sails had something to do with thermoregulation, that is, maintaining their body temperature.”Sadler says the skin sail would

have had blood vessels in it. “So if it was a cool morning, it could turn sideways and put the sail toward the sun. The sun’s rays would warm up the blood and then circulate it to the whole body. If it starts to get too hot, it could turn perpendicular to the sun, so the sun’s rays don’t hit the sail.”She says it also might have had

something to do with looking more impressive. “Maybe it turned different colors during mating season. We don’t know exactly, but it seems in other organisms it has something to do with this body temperature regulation.”

Tracing Arizonasaurus babbitti FootstepsUnusually detailed footprints of

the large reptile, or something like it, are preserved in a slab of Moenkopi sandstone in the collections repository at the Museum of Northern Arizona where Sadler has studied. “What’s fascinating about this

track is that you can actually see the scales on the bottom of the animal’s foot, which is amazing,” she said. “So the slab that the museum has here is one of the coolest fossils ever. I love trace fossils because – even though it’s great to find bones and teeth and all that – trace fossils are really interesting because they are remains of a behavior, of something that an organism was doing. So, in this case, the trace fossils are tracks. So this is the remains of animals walking through mud as these guys were wandering the flood plains probably looking for food in this warm subtropical environment.”MNA Colbert Collections

Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology David Gillette, Ph.D., says the footprints were discovered in Wupatki National Monument in 1973.

“The Moenkopi is a really beautiful deep red sandstone and mudstone that formed along flood plains of ancient rivers and has preserved skeletons of these early archosaurs and a variety of important trackways.”

Named for James E. BabbittBerkeley researcher Sam Welles

identified and named the first-known remains of Arizonasaurus in 1947, which were discovered on Babbitt Ranches near Holbrook. It’s believed he was led to the site by Babbitt family members whose relatives had been running cattle, riding horses and operating trading posts on the land since 1886. In his original publication documenting the find, Welles wrote Arizonasaurus babbitti was named to honor “the late James Babbitt of Flagstaff, Arizona, who has extended us many courtesies.” James E. “Jim” Babbitt was an Arizona state senator who died in a 1944 hunting accident. “It turns out that Arizonasaurus

babbitti is one of the earliest records of the major evolutionary lineage that, in time, would give rise to today’s crocodilians and thus is really important in evolutionary terms,” said Hans-Dieter Sues, Ph.D., senior scientist and department chair of paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. “It was a large predator that probably dominated the ecosystem in what is now the Southwest some 240 million years ago. So an animal named after the Babbitt family played a dominant role in Arizona even

before the Age of the Dinosaurs!”“The Babbitt family has

always been really supportive of the sciences and the arts and education in this region, so I think it’s really appropriate to have one of these early, very important fossils named after that founding family of Arizona,” said Sadler. Nesbitt’s Arizonasaurus fossils

are at the Arizona Museum of Natural History. He says he can’t wait to get back to his home state for more research into Arizonasaurus babbitti, the

Moenkopi Formation and the Age of Reptiles.

Creature Featured at ExpoAr i zonasaurus babbi t t i

along with other creatures of the Triassic age, plus space exploration, golden eagles, the black-footed ferret and rare plants will be part of the Babbitt Ranches Landscape Discovery Expo from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1, at Arizona Nordic Village on Highway 180, 15 miles north of Flagstaff. The event is one of more than 100 free activities offered during the Flagstaff Festival of Science, Sept. 23 – Oct. 2. For more information, visit www.scifest.org.

Article VIIHuman Dimension

and Science

Section 4.

Communicate activities to other agencies and land-

owners with whom Babbitt Ranches has relationships,

and to the owners of Babbitt Ranches.

… continued on page 7

By Emery Cowan, Courtesy Arizona Daily Sun, excerpt from Sept. 9, 2016“Instead of posing a threat to the

cactus, the company’s ranching practices are helping

to maintain an environment where the species is able

to hang on.”

– U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

September 2016 BABBITT TIMES REVIEW page 7

Babbitt Ranches is a Family Business, as such, the work of business and the complexity of relationships have had a significant impact on each other. Through the years, Babbitt ven-tures have included cattle, sheep, trading posts, grocery stores, department stores, lumber companies, a livery stable, an automobile dealership, mining operations, farms, an ice plant, a funeral parlor and many others. As the 21st century organizational community carries on the spirit of adventure, exploration and love for the land, the CO Bar, Cataract and Espee Ranches remain bustling with activities that bridge the business ventures from the pioneer age to the space age with a commitment to quality and long-term decision making. Cowboys ride, rope and brand while researchers study climate, explore renewable energy and simulate conditions of the moon.• 730,000 acres of grazing land • 275,000 acres deeded • 7,500 head; mostly Hereford cattle • 150 American Quarter Horses; carrying the historic Hashknife brand

Protecting Resources that Feed the NationWith support from the Natural

Resource Conservation Service, Babbitt Ranches has restored grasslands by treating invasive juniper and pinyon trees; installed wildlife friendly fences, created water facilities that benefit livestock and wildlife; and, developed conservation plans to protect natural resources.

NRCS Area Rangeland Management Specialist Iric Burden says the organization collaborates with ranchers, farmers, communities and others to identify resource concerns such as soil erosion and water quality issues.“We help balance economic

goals with the needs of the

environment to ensure productive lands that feed our nation, supply fiber and forest products, and develop energy resources,” he said.NRCS Flagstaff Field Office

Rangeland Management Specialist Joey Dahms says currently there are two Regional Conservation Partnership

Programs in place that address large-scale planning areas. Collaborators include the Arizona Game and Fish Department, The Nature Conservation, the Verde Natural Resource Conservation District and Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District.

Article XConstitution Commitment

Section 1.

We do the very best we know how, the very best we can; and, we mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Across the vast Navajo Nation, a massive effort is underway to control weeds and enhance the range quality and quantity. Bureau of Indian Affairs

Natural Resource Specialist Renee Benally is the acting Navajo Region Noxious Weed Coordinator and Navajo Region Youth Liaison. The two positions go together because she says managing for climate change and developing skills and land ethics in young people are the keys to the future. “We have to work as one to make a difference here on Earth.”Benally says the BIA

Navajo Region is working with the tribe and several cooperators on the Navajo Nation Integrated Weed Management Plan, which will serve as a guide for best practices and tools to control weeds. Currently they are developing the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. “This is the first time I

am intimately involved on a large-scale project where you are able to see and integrate various natural resource perspectives like air, soil, water and wildlife quality instead of concentrating only on weed management and approaching the problem like a Band-Aid when we should see the land from a holistic point of view. It puts all minds and thoughts into one coordinated effort to solve one resource concern.”Benally says the Navajo

Nation and Babbitt Ranches are neighbors and both have one major common goal on both sides of the fence. “We both want good viable range conditions!”

Article IXPriceless Values

Section 4.

CommunityBabbitt Ranches is part of a large and diverse

community of land owners, communities and organiza-tions who have a responsi-bility and obligation to the broad regional perspective. It is within this context of community that relation-

ships are formed and quality regional planning

can begin.

Neighbors Managing Weeds

Exploring the Moon and Mars from Babbitt Ranches

Article IV

Cowboy EssenceCharacter Qualities

Section 1.

AmbitionThe desire to achieve noble goals.

that maps current populations and reiterates the sustainable grazing practices that seem to have kept the cactus around.Using grant money from the

Fish and Wildlife Service, Babbitt also hosted a Fickeisen plains cactus survey protocol and workshop with local land management officials who oversee places where the cacti grow.The fact that those efforts

were mentioned by the Fish and Wildlife Service shows how “being proactive pays off,” said Dorothy House, a technical writer with the environmental

consulting firm SWCA who wrote the management plan.Babbitt’s actions wouldn’t

have gotten off the ground if it weren’t for Greg Goodwin, a retired Forest Service biologist. Goodwin was the first to spot the cacti on Babbitt Ranches land in 2006 while doing volunteer biological surveys. He ended up spending seven years surveying for the cacti in different areas of the ranchland north of the San Francisco Peaks, producing data that formed a foundation for the Babbitt management plan. Goodwin spoke highly of the

landscape.“It appears to be a pretty

pristine grassland,” he said.While Cordasco didn’t know

of any other endangered plant or animal species that make a permanent home on the ranches, Goodwin said he alone has documented 350 different species (of grassland plants on Babbitt Ranches).“I think that shows you even

though it doesn’t look like it, it’s this extremely diverse, dynamic plant community in which this pediocactus seems to be doing fairly well,” he said.

Archaeologist Envisions Ancient Site as Field Station

NASA has long been sending astronauts to Babbitt Ranches for training. The easy access of the land north of the Black Point Lava Flow and the similarity to extraterrestrial surfaces have helped them understand how to walk, drive rovers and study geology on the Moon and Mars.In addition, NASA’s Jet

Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has repeatedly conducted field tests of Mars rover projects on Babbitt Ranches about 40 miles north of Flagstaff, simulating rover exploration of rocks and soils using cameras and other

equipment at the field site. “The Mars Science Laboratory

field test was very useful because it helped the MSL team become more familiar with software and procedures that were critical for analyzing observations on Mars,” said U.S. Geological Survey planetary geologist Ken Herkenhoff, Ph.D.“A major near-term goal of

the Mars exploration program is to select and return samples to Earth,” added Herkenhoff, who analyzes Martian images. “The current rover missions (Curiosity and Opportunity) have taught us how to conduct in-situ science investigations on Mars, experience that is needed to efficiently select and document potential samples.” High Resolution Imaging

Science Experiment (HiRISE) images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are helping scientists select potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover mission, which is intended to bring rock samples back to Earth. Herkenhoff is helping to develop stereo cameras for that flight.

“I love exploring Mars, both on the surface and from afar!” he says. “Each HiRISE image resolves objects the size of a beach ball on Mars, so the rovers are easily visible. Working on the rover teams is as close as I can get to doing field geology on Mars, and it’s exciting to see places on Mars that nobody has seen close up before. Combining orbital and rover views of Mars allows us to much better understand the geologic history of the planet and how it got to be the way it is.” In 2010, NASA and Johnson

Space Center Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) drove a rover more than 35 miles from Black Point Lava Flow to Colton Crater. They also tested a blade on the vehicle to see how much of the rocks and dirt could be moved in preparation

for building a space station on the Moon. During the experiment, instruments on the vehicle sent images, weather information and other data to JPL.“We think the rover is a fabulous

design and we want to find out if that’s true before we build the flight system,” said Doug Craig, NASA Strategic Analysis Manger for Explorative Systems. “It’s

A prehistoric Sinaguan pueblo on Babbitt Ranches is being documented with three-dimensional imaging technology and stabilized to preserve its standing walls. Tsopki, or antelope house, is also serving as a hands-on learning station for Northern Arizona University archaeology students.The multi-storied building is

just outside Wupatki National Monument near the Little Colorado River. “Places like this are scientifically interesting, but they are also incredibly culturally meaningful,” says archaeologist Chris Downum, an NAU professor heading up the documentation and preservation project.To get to the site, archaeologists

and students descend a sandstone cliff face and carry in everything they need including gallons of water for stabilization work.“One of the things that has

happened to this particular pueblo site is a considerable amount of the mud mortar that people applied to the walls 900 years ago has washed away and eroded, leaving some holes and some voids in what we call the original fabric of the pueblo. So our students were able to mix some mud and use a particular glue-like substance that makes

the mud a little more resistant to weathering to protect the walls,” said Downum.The researchers also carry in

cameras to create a virtual model of the structure.“We have a new way of recording

archaeological sites that’s known as terrestrial photogrammetry. It involves taking high resolution overlapping digital images of these prehistoric sites and then using a computer program to stitch those together into a precise three-dimensional model that is rich with all the detail of the digital photographs but also scalable and measurable in terms of precise documentation of the form and the outline and the condition of the place at the time it was photographed,” said Downum.The program creates an image

of the pueblo that can be rotated and viewed from different angles. “You can go inside it. You can look down on it, you can make a traditional two-dimensional plan view map, you can make what are called elevation views by looking straight at the site. It’s all correct and to scale,” he said. “The pictures are so vivid and so clear, and the three-dimensional aspect of it really does make you feel like you’re there.”

Downum says the photography shows individual artifacts that are lying on the ground and also the plants in the area. “We’ll be able to create a permanent record of very high resolution and detail to look at what kind of vegetation was growing at the site. So when the environment changes, we’ll be able to go back and do plant inventories and other things that will show up on there.” With the terrestrial

photogrammetry, team members can examine the ruin on a computer screen. They can see where Tsopki’s stone and mud walls are crumbling, where water can be rerouted to slow erosion, and they can estimate the amount of materials they need to work on the site.“It’s a real aid to our planning

and our execution of the stabilization process,” said Downum.In the past, Tsopki, which also

includes a kiva-like structure, has been managed as part of Wupatki National Monument. But when the National Park Service reevaluated the monument’s boundaries, it learned the pueblo was actually on Babbitt Ranches. Downum says that discovery has resulted in a cooperative effort to preserve the ruin.

“We have never attempted anything like this before, which involves Northern Arizona University and Babbitt Ranches with the cooperation of the National Park Service to begin a new chapter in the management of the cultural resources out on the Babbitt land, which we hope expands and grows into a more comprehensive program,” he said. Pueblos like

Tsopki are c o n s i d e r e d iconic structures of the ancient past that imbed a tremendous amount of information for archaeolog ists, but they are also incredibly m e a n i n g f u l for the Native descendants of the ancient people who lived there, says Downum. His research reveals that the Sinagua who inhabited the pueblo were master gardeners. They farmed crops such as corn, maze and squash in the arid, high desert environment. Pinyon nuts and some of the pottery sherds found

at the site suggest they traded with neighboring cultures.“The Hopis would say these

places represent the footprints of the ancestors, that they’re the tangible traces of the tangled paths of migration that were walked by their ancestors. Each one of these ancient places is a piece of their story and we want to keep these places standing as remnants and reminders of the past.”Downum’s long-term vision

includes restoring historic buildings on Babbitt Ranches to use as a base camp for researchers. He also hopes to implement an archaeology program at Tsopki for individuals with cognitive disabilities to gain field experience and employment opportunities.“What a great field station and

what a great place to go and be allowed to go out there and train students and do research and just get some hands-on activities. We’re going to continue with this in years to come because these are just golden opportunities for our students to get hands-on training that is meaningful. This isn’t classroom training, this isn’t theoretical, this is the real thing and this is really contributing to

the public good of preservation.”In addition to this

project, Downum has worked with Babbitt Ranches for some 25 years in the conservation of cultural resource sites. “I want to say

how tremendous it’s been to work with Babbitt Ranches. They are terrific. Babbitt Ranches has given us at NAU full access and helped

us financially by providing materials and helping to pay for transportation. They are just amazingly helpful, easy to work with, accommodating and encouraging. Generations of students have benefited from the generosity of the ranch.”

cheaper to find out here on Earth than on the Moon.”During the Apollo missions

of the 1960s, USGS scientists worked with astronauts on the rocky landscape of Babbitt Ranches to learn how to maneuver through the volcanic surface of Black Point and identify rock samples. Babbitt Ranches cowboys made the site more Moon-like by creating a crater with dynamite.For decades, USGS scientists

and engineers have been developing a variety of image, topography and geologic maps of planetary bodies, often with help from the Babbitt family.

… continued from page 6

Astronauts stepped into dangling spacesuits from a prototype lunar rover’s suit portal and were deployed to the rock terrain in 2010. They also spent three days inside the Small Pressurized Rover vehicle to test for its livability.

The Landsward Foundation is a non-profit organization created by Babbitt Ranches to pursue scientific, educational and charitable endeavors.It brings together researchers

who share a common interest in: understanding and sustaining the lands of the Coconino Plateau Region and the Little Colorado River Valley; and, promoting environmental stewardship in conjunction with agricultural production and other land uses.The Foundation serves as a

liaison between landowners, land use managers and the scientific community. Activities include collecting and assessing scientific data relative to the environment; monitoring changes to the land; and, disseminating information to private and public landowners and managers.

Landsward Foundation

Article VISustainable Community PrinciplesSection 8.

Makes the best use of local efforts and resources, and nur-

tures solutions at the local level.

page 8 September 2016BABBITT TIMES REVIEW

928.774.6199 w P. O. Box 520, Flagstaff, AZ 86002 wbabbittranches.com

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