QUIVIRA COALITION INC

Quivira advances it mission to foster resilience dry working lands in coalition with ranchers and farmers, landowners, land managers, public agencies, Tribal partners, conservationists, educators, students, and others. Our goals are:

For ecological health - regenerate soils through carbon sequestration, restore and conserve biodiversity, make watersheds drought resistant, and restore ground cover throughout entire landscapes.

For economic health - to grow resources in rural communities, to attract and sustain beginning farmers and ranchers, and to foster agrarian businesses with the capacity for intentional succession to the next generation of food producers and progressive land stewards.

For social health - to create opportunities for the exchange of intergenerational agrarian knowledge and practice and to engage increasing numbers of beginning and seasoned land stewards in the practice of the radical center.

Quivira works to create a regenerative and hopeful culture rooted in connection with the land and a commitment to collaboration and reciprocity. As a change agent, we foster trust and hope along with technical solutions, bringing together traditionally adversarial stakeholders in the radical center - a space for collaborative problem solving and coalition building that welcomes diverse perspectives in our work to address climate change, support a regenerative food production system, and build resilience on dry working lands. Our emphasis is on creative problem solving drawn from both tradition and innovation, effective strategizing, place-sourced solutions, traditional and new ways of knowing, community revitalization, and scientific assessment and rigor. Our approach has grown a partnership base and networks that cross divides to include ranchers and farmers of all stripes, grazing associations, public land managers at all government levels, a wide diversity of local and national conservation organizations, agricultural apprenticeship programs, land restoration businesses, Tribal and Intertribal leadership, teachers, scientists, and researchers.

Quivira was founded by a rancher and two conservationists. Our first years of operation were dedicated to building alliances among ranchers, conservationists, public agency personnel, and researchers who would work on the ground to demonstrate that ecologically healthy rangeland and economically robust ranches were naturally compatible. Over time the coalition expanded to include farmers, stewards of Tribal lands, beginning ranchers and farmers, mentor operations and apprenticeship programs, and conservation volunteers. Emphasis shifted to include large and small scale restoration projects in riparian areas and on range and croplands. The coalition has grown again to include a diverse population of producers and educators working to create food hubs throughout the Intermountain West. Working at the radical center, this expanding, inclusive network, along with Quivira’s skilled professional staff, enables much larger projects than any individual, small nonprofit organization could take on.

Quivira has more than 200 dues-paying members and more than 5,000 subscribers, and through alliances, partnerships, on-the ground education, publication, and outreach has influenced the management of millions of acres of private and public lands. Our work at the radical center has demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale watershed restoration in remote areas, relying on partnerships, volunteer engagement, and low-impact technologies; the use of regenerative grazing and farming practices to restore soil fertility and draw down atmospheric carbon; and the restoration of food systems in tribal and other rural communities. We created the first regional agrarian apprenticeship program with a focus on regenerative ranching, and through our research and publishing activities, helped bring together the National Ag Apprenticeship Learning Network. Over two decades, all of our work has highlighted dissemination of the most forward thinking and innovative practices emerging from the collaborative conservation and regenerative agriculture movements.