Craig Sponholtz at the Quivira Coalition, 2010

Presentations from the Quivira Coalition's 9th Annual Conference, November 10-12, 2010, in Albuquerque, NM
The Carbon Ranch: Using Food and Stewardship to Build Soil and Fight Climate Change

Right now, the only possibility of large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is through plant photosynthesis and other land-based carbon sequestration activities. Strategies include: enriching soil carbon, farming with perennials, employing climate-friendly livestock practices, conserving natural habitat, restoring degraded watersheds and rangelands, and producing local food. Over the past decade, many of these strategies have been demonstrated to be both practical and profitable. A carbon ranch bundles them into an economic whole with the aim of creating climate-friendly landscapes that are both healthy ecologically and the source of healthy food. In this conference we explored this exciting new frontier and heard from carbon pioneers from around the world.



About the speaker:

Craig Sponholtz, founder and president of Dryland Solutions Inc., is a watershed restoration specialist and agro-ecologist currently residing in Santa Fe, NM. He spent a decade with the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico and Arizona working mostly in Wildland Fire Management. Craig studied Permaculture in Australia at Bill Mollison's Tagari Farm. In 2005 he received a Master of Arts degree in Agro-Ecological Restoration from Prescott College. As an undergrad Craig studied natural resource management as well as sculpture, printmaking and ceramics. His interest in the visual arts continues today and finds it's outlet in the rockwork he sculpts for stream restoration projects. He works throughout the southwest with private landowners, non-profits, tribes and government agencies. Craig has a passion for teaching and getting the word out. He leads workshops in erosion control and passive waterharvesting techniques that seek to give his students the skills and encouragement needed to go out and make a difference in their home watersheds.Dryland Solutions, Inc.