It's been years in the making. My book is ready to publish. It's about overgrazing and recovery, disturbance. Simplicity and complexity, diversity and homogeneity, life and death. And that's just the people. I also talk about land management, soil health, and finances. The story wraps around events and experiences unique to me, but the message touches all who live at, benefit from, or support those making decisions at the soil surface. In other words, everyone.

A Long Time Coming

Over thirty years ago, Kirk Gadzia, one of my mentors, planted the seed for this book when he challenged me to write an autobiography as part of my application to become a Certified Educator for Holistic Management International. The first draft was a catharsis, absorbing and accepting a lot of pain as a result of my getting out of step with the times. In writing, I recognized similarities of disruptions in my life and overgrazing on the ranch. The working title was "Overgrazed."

Eric Grant read through that draft and went to work, explaining, "The reader will be lost without a sense of where you came from." He guided me through a forward that brought the forces of fate, ancestor choices, good and bad luck, and Newton's Law of Motion that landed me at the beginning of this book. His title suggestion was "Ten Steps to Better Management," maybe a "how-to" version. The content of that Forward still lives in the first chapter.

My BLM range conservationist, Roy Packer, read bits and pieces about range and our Coordinated Resource Management group. He thought the book should be titled "Beyond Columbus Management," meaning it doesn't take much to do a little better. If you don’t know what “Columbus Management” means, you can find out in the book.

Outside Input

I met Deb Barracato when I was on the Yellowstone Business Partnership board, and she was the editor of Greater Yellowstone magazine, where I published, “The Lander Bar.” Her comment? "You need to get this out. Many people like me who moved to the Rocky Mountain West don't understand what it actually takes to manage an ecosystem, let alone how land manager decisions affect our lives. That's important."

My new bride, Andrea, delved into the book and challenged my vulnerabilities, taking me deeper. Her final thought? "Enough already, get this out. It’s not the last thing you are going to write." Maybe that was the Walter Cronkite version, "… and that's the way it is on December 31, 2000."

The manuscript went back in the drawer, where it rested, maybe even over-rested for 10-years or more.

Finding Relevance

Enter Amber Smith at Antelope Springs Ranch in Cohagen, Montana. She and her husband, Trevor, managed a ranch for Armonia, a family fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut, that had owned different ranches for multiple generations. I supported the Armonia family and the Smiths as they learned the practice of Holistic Management.

During one of my visits, Amber commented, "You have some interesting stories, Tony. You should write a book."

I sent her the "rested" document, and she took it onto herself to breathe new life into the project. She made it clear that this book was relevant to her, her family, and others she knew in rural America, some but not all of whom were land managers.

She helped clear confusion, add stories to replace platitudes, and make content relevant. Eventually, she submitted inquiries to publishers, which I had never done. Her additions might be called "Relevance, It's Your Context."

During this same period, Ryan White, who also worked at Antelope Springs Ranch, read the work in progress and commented, "You bring heart to Holistic Management and what we are trying to do." A graphic artist, he designed a cover for the book.

The What, The How, and The Why

Yet, we did not find a publisher. The disconnect seemed to be potential publishers' desire for us to rewrite the seminal “Holistic Management,” Allan Savory's classic, of which he has written three editions. What? Like, no way.

Amber pointed out the difference. This book relates an experience in learning how to practice, as a verb, Holistic Management. Allan's book defined “What,” Holistic Management is. This book is “How,” I did, or didn't, do it. And within the penmanship, the reader will join me in discovering the “Why,” we need to get ‘er done. We need to regenerate the soils and souls, and we can do this guided by Holistic Management.

The When?

One recurring comment from the supportive reviewers, as well as the rejections from publishers, was to create a venue through a blog that would develop and nurture an audience of those that influence decisions at the soil surface. It is obvious that those that farm and ranch have a direct influence (even though many do not take on the charge). In reality, all of us who walk upon and eat from the vast grasslands of the world have immense power to influence decisions at the soil surface. This blog, like the book, brings a focus to the challenges and opportunities of those living, working, and making decisions at the soil surface and why we all need to find ways to support them.

I have two asks from you, the reader of this blog. My first ask is for you to send this post, and your favorite past post, to people you think will find making decisions at the soil surface interesting, or even compelling. The Homepage and the end of each blog has a place for a new reader to subscribe to the blog.

You ask, “Why has it taken so long to get this book out?” Insecurity maybe? Allan Savory once told me that only about 3% of those he trained actually “Practice Holistic Management." It was difficult hanging in there with the 3%. Take note of my second ask at the end of this blog, addressing Being Part of the 3%.

Being Part of the 3%

In the 1980s, many ranchers of my generation struggled through the farm crisis. Being squeezed by changing times, some of us traveled far, to spend a week in a motel meeting room, where we were presented with The Holistic Management decision-making model. For those of us in the 3%, that week changed our perception of our ranch and land management.

Seeing the soil surface for the first time is awe-inspiring. Seeing the indicators of an ecosystem's function, in plain sight, spurred us. Right there, at our feet, we can see if water is running off or infiltrating; we can see if plant and animal waste is decomposing or oxidizing; we can see if we have a complex or simple plant community; and we can see if we are capturing sunlight energy or not.

This book delves into a Holistic Management practitioner's quest to take that decision-making model and breathe life into our Whole Under Management. I admit it takes faith to allow for regrowth and act on a process that we don't completely understand. Often, too often, fear of the unknown and being different than our neighbor derails that process. The 3% have learned and know at a gut level, that a persistent practice of Holistic Management will start springs flowing, build functional rivers, retire debt, enhance our quality of life, and influence complexity on our ranch, in our community, and collectively, on our planet.

Finally

Last year, I reconnected with Deb Barracato, who has experience in self-publishing. She has been modifying and developing a narrative we can print and get out. COVID19 has created unintended complexities in the world of printing and publishing, along with other factions in our lives. As our actual publication date narrows, you will receive my second ask to help grow the 3%. I will ask for a commitment for pre-orders to initiate our first printing.

How fitting. Regrowth, regeneration, and a new year, a new hope, a new book and green grass in the spring.

Regenerating Soils and Souls Guided by Holistic Management