A. T. Cole Presents at Natural History of the Gila Symposium

When:

3:20 p.m., MST, Wednesday, February 28, 2024

1:20 p.m., MST, Thursday, February 29, 2024

Where: Besse-Forward Global Resource Center, Western New Mexico University, 100 W. College Ave., Silver City, NM

A. Thomas Cole, author of Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch, will give two presentations at the Natural History of the Gila Symposium. On Wednesday, Feb. 28, he will give a 20-minute talk titled “Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch and Carbon Drawdown” focusing on this book. On Thursday, Feb. 29, Cole will be part of a panel discussion titled “Citizen Science – Drivers and Platforms.” All Symposium sessions are free and open to the public.

The 10th Biennial Natural History of the Gila Symposium in 2024 serves as a gathering for researchers, land managers, conservationists, artists, and educators to trade insights and ideas received from the Gila Region, encompassing the watersheds and adjacent areas in southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and northern Mexico. This year’s Symposium holds significance as it kicks off the opening of the Gila Centennial, commemorating 100 years of the wilderness idea in the United States.

About the book:

Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch tells the story of a decades-long habitat restoration project in southwestern New Mexico. Ranch owner A. Thomas Cole explains what inspired him and his wife, Lucinda, to turn their retirement into years dedicated to hard work and renewal. They have been rehabilitating a ranch in southwestern New Mexico, where they focus on protecting wildlife and wildlife habitats, wetland restoration, and carbon sequestration. Their aim is to draw down their carbon use and to encourage others to do the same. The book shares the past and present history of a very special ranch south of Silver City, which is home to a rare type of regional wetland, a fragile desert grassland ecosystem, archaeological sites, and a critical wildlife corridor in a drought-stricken landscape.