Ranchers Voice Skepticism on Carbon Storage Plan

March 23rd, 2009 • Filed Under
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GILLETTE (AP) - Some Wyoming ranchers are expressing skepticism about using their land to help fight global warming.

Most of the ranchers attending a workshop, recently, thought that capturing carbon dioxide through grass on their pastures was a way to benefit someone else, not them. The workshop in Gillette was hosted by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension office.

The idea of capturing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and storing carbon in the soil is relatively new.

The technique seeks to provide a solution for global warming and financially reward ranchers who would keep their grazing pastures in good shape in order to capture that carbon. In exchange, ranchers would get credits depending on the size of their land. But only those who have a grazing plan would qualify for the program. The plan would require the ranchers to watch out for overgrazing so that the grass is long enough to store carbon.

Some ranchers are wary of the scientific grounds of the program and the requirements to join it. They don’t think that the program can be a stimulus for sustainable land management. “It wouldn’t change how we operate the ranch because protecting the resource has always been important to me,” said Priscilla Welles, who has a cattle ranch between Buffalo and Gillette. “At this point, it appears that the pay off is a bit unknown.”

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