The Quivira Coalition was founded by a rancher and two conservationists in June, 1997, to build bridges among ranchers, conservationists, scientists and public land managers around concepts of progressive cattle management, innovative stewardship and improved land health.

Our original mission was "to demonstrate that ecologically sensitive ranch management and economically robust ranches can be compatible." We proposed common sense solutions to the grazing "debate," which at the time was marked by extreme polarization on both sides. We sought to break the gridlock by advocating a new set of tools: grassbanks, dormant season grazing, planned grazing, restoration, and collaboration.

We took a vow not to do lawsuits or legislation. Nor would we be mediators or facilitators between extremes in the grazing debate. Instead, we concentrated on creating a 'third position,' outside the continuum of brawling. We called this position The New Ranch, which we defined as "an emerging progressive ranching movement that operates on the principle that the natural processes that sustain wildlife habitat, biological diversity and functioning watersheds are the same processes that make land productive for livestock."

Our goal was to expand the 'radical center' - a neutral place where people could explore their interests instead of argue their positions. To do this, we started at the grassroots, literally the 'grass' and the 'roots,' where we believed trust needed to be built anew. We intended to be a vehicle for information as well as a catalyst for change - not a debating society. In the beginning, the question was not whether sustainable ranch management was possible, but rather how to spread the news.

We spent five fruitful years promoting The New Ranch through workshops, tours, outdoor classrooms, demonstration projects, publications, speaking engagement, media outreach, and other acts of education and bridge-building.

But by 2002, it was time to adjust our mission statement. The grazing "debate" had crested, we felt, and giving way to other conservation concerns, such as the accelerating loss of open space to sprawl (often on former ranch lands), the threat of noxious species to native biodiversity, the rise of recreational damage on public land, and the spread of "nature deficit disorder" - a term coined by author Richard Louv to describe the dissolving bond between people and nature, especially among members of the next generation.

Furthermore, through our work with riparian restoration specialist Bill Zeedyk we began to embrace a more `holistic' vision of land health and restoration, involving grass, water, cattle, and people. As a result, our on-the-ground work grew to include a major restoration project on Comanche Creek, the adoption of the Valle Grande Grassbank on Rowe Mesa, publishing a monitoring manual, the creation of the New Ranch Network, the implementation of an Annual Conference, and workshops on ranch road repair, water harvesting, `reading the landscape,' monitoring, and much more.

Good grazing was still the heart of our work, but it was only one part of a larger effort to foster "ecological, economic and social health on western landscapes" - as our revised mission statement said.

Then in November of 2007, the Quivira Board of Directors added two new words to the mission statement of the organization: `build resilience.'

It now reads: "The mission of The Quivira Coalition is to build resilience by fostering ecological, economic and social health on western landscapes through education, innovation, collaboration, and progressive public and private land stewardship."

This subtle but significant change reflects The Quivira Coalition's continuing evolution to meet the rising challenges of the 21st century.

Although no one knows what the decades ahead will bring precisely, there are enough indicators of change to say with confidence that the 21st century will look a lot different than the 20th. Whether the concern is climate change, peak oil, ecosystem service decline, overpopulation, species extinction, food and water shortages, or something else, the challenges ahead are daunting and varied.

We believe that one response to these multiple challenges is to increase ecological and economic resilience. The dictionary defines resilience as "the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change."

In our effort to build resilience, we decided to focus on three Areas of Concern:

1) Reversing Ecosystem Service Decline. In 2005, the United Nations published its
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a global evaluation of ecosystem services on which human well-being and progress toward sustainable development vitally depend. These services include food, fresh water, wood, fiber, fuel, and biodiversity; climate, flood, pests and disease regulation; nutrient cycling, soil stability, biotic integrity, watershed function, and photosynthesis; and spiritual, educational, recreational, and aesthetic experiences.

2) Creating Sustainable Prosperity. Ecosystem services have declined partly because
their conservation has not been viewed to be in the economic self-interest of important portions of society. As a result, conservation, including the restoration and maintenance of natural systems, became primarily a subsidized activity, accomplishing its goals principally by (1) direct or indirect governmental funding; (2) as an indirect byproduct of agricultural activity, or (3) by philanthropy; or some combination of each.

3) Relocalization of Food. This word will likely dominate our lives in the upcoming decades. The inevitability of rising energy costs mean more and more of our daily lives, from food production to where we work and play, will be increasingly relocalized at local and regional scales. This won't be by choice, as it is currently, but by necessity.

As an organization, we work to build resilience by: (1) improving land health; (2) disseminating knowledge and innovation; (3) increasing local capacity; (4) encouraging 'conservation with a business plan'; and (5) strengthening diverse relationships.

To accomplish this goal we have three Program Areas: (1) Education & Outreach; (2) Land & Water; and (3) Capacity Building & Mentoring. The specifics of each Program Area can be found on this web site.

In summary, The Quivira Coalition has successfully evolved to meet changing values, markets, and needs in society. In 1997, there was a need to create peace. Our contribution to this goal included The New Ranch and our work in the radical center. By 2002, the goal was to integrate an innovative toolbox of best management practices into an economic and ecological whole that would help heal land - and to spread the news. By 2007, this goal expanded to include `building resilience' for the long-term.

Today, new values, markets, and needs are still changing - and will likely require new responses. The Quivira Coalition will continue to evolve to meet these new needs. We will continue, however, to emphasize our core values: grassroots relationships, land health, collaboration, and innovation.