Grand Canyon National Park is one of America’s favorite destinations — more than five million people visit each year to take in the breathtaking views of this iconic landscape.

Although much of the land along the giant crevasse of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim has been protected, huge parcels of land there are still vulnerable to subdivision, development and drought. Such was the case with the privately owned Kane and Two Mile ranches — The Conservation Fund’s largest land conservation project to date.

The North Rim Ranches

Together, these North Rim ranches represent an expansive inholding — privately owned land located within the boundaries of a federally designated area — connecting three national monuments, two national recreation areas and eight wilderness areas. The ranches, which share a 100-mile boundary with the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, span just over 1,200 acres and control grazing permits across nearly 900,000 acres of adjacent federal lands. Much of the ranchland is part of the “sky island” of the Kaibab Plateau, which is home to the highest density of old-growth ponderosa pines in the Southwest and plays a significant part in efforts to reintroduce endangered California condors in Arizona.

Beginning in 2005, TCF partnered with the Grand Canyon Trust to purchase the Kane and Two Mile ranches, both of which are within view of Arizona’s famed Vermilion Cliffs. Together with the trust, we created North Rim Ranch LLC to own and run the ranches and hired a third-generation rancher to oversee the operation.

But there’s more. Decades of grazing had taken their toll on the area’s most sensitive lands. We brought together neighboring ranchers, public agencies and tribal officials to develop a management plan for the property that aims to reduce grazing pressures on sensitive lands, restore critical wildlife habitat and maintain part of the land as a traditional cattle ranch. A science advisory council was also convened to assess the grazing allotments associated with the ranches, which will help land managers conserve and protect the fragile landscape.

Since operations began on the North Rim ranches, grazing pressures have been reduced by decreasing cattle by half and instituting a rotational grazing pattern, giving pastures at least a year off for every year they are grazed. The North Rim ranches have also opened research operations on the property to study how to combat invasive species and regional climate change. Along with these scientific pursuits have come opportunities for local students, from kindergarten to college, to visit the ranches and learn about the ecological plane of these grand landscapes.

Funding to support this effort was provided by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through its partnership with Walmart and the Acres for America program.

Why This Project Matters

These land conservation successes along the North Rim are great examples of how saving land isn’t always about simply buying it and setting it aside; successful conservation often requires bringing multiple groups together to determine long-term preservation goals. We knew that for conservation to last here, we needed to preserve not only the region’s wildlife habitat and striking scenery, but also its rich ranching heritage.

Learn More

• Article: “Environmentally minded cowboys run a green ranch in Arizona” (Christian Science Monitor)