Big is Fragile

The Endangered Species Act helped bring the Yellowstone-area grizzly population back from the brink of extinction. It also sparked controversy over a question that looms over more species than just grizzly bears: How do we balance the needs of endangered wildlife with the needs of humans?

A few years ago, the May family set off on a trailblazing path to protect their land, and the carbon it stores, by selling carbon credits on the global market.  By promising to never plow the land, the Mays store carbon and protect native wildlife. But with diminishing margins and the looming threat of fire, the road hasn’t been easy.

The Rardins are father and son cowboys watching climate change threaten their way of life. They’ve given up on the old idea of “get big or get out” and joined the regenerative ranching movement. Inspired by how bison improve the land, they raise cattle to protect grasses and reduce emissions. But for many, it's still a financial risk.

Ranchers are having a really hard time these days. They’ve got more drought, more conflict, expensive land, high rates of suicide, just to name a few. But this fall the University of Wyoming launched a new agricultural leadership degree. The goal is to re-envision the rancher of the future. This summer, a Wyoming kid named Ethan Mills became the first registered student in the program. We tag along as he attends a ranch camp.

We follow the cow’s journey from the mountain pasture to the feedlot and eventually the slaughterhouse. Along the way, we hear from animal welfare advocate Temple Grandin and cattle handlers who all want a fairer, more humane market – and one not so monopolized by large corporations.

We head to Wyoming’s Red Desert - and hear the history of the 19th century range wars. They led to laws requiring grazing fees and regular land health check-ups. But over a century later, some say these regulations haven’t done enough to protect our wild spaces. Not to mention our climate.

The history of how we brought the pastoral cow to live on the arid lands of the west is a violent one. Jim Elliot grew up in the shadow of that history and his stories are quintessential cowboy, full of guns, death and hard winters. But even Jim recognized the tragedy of the attempted annihilation of Indigenous culture and bison to make way for cows. But now, there’s growing hope among tribes as bison make a comeback.

The Abeyta family has been driving sheep down from the mountains of southern Colorado for generations. But it hasn’t been easy to keep that tradition alive – they’ve had to fight for it. Through their eyes, we trace back the beginnings of the cowboy to the Mexican vaquero and find out how those adventurous roots are still very much alive in the American southwest.

The Rolling Stone: The Modern West is re-sharing our ranching series The Great Individualist. This time, we explore our deep abiding love for the cowboy. "If you get out there and bust your butt taking care of cows and even putting up hay, it’s so rewarding. I can get on a saddle horse and ride all day." But how that infatuation sometimes gets us in trouble.

We're back with a new season of Modern West. Listen to the first episode of The Great Individualist Reboot now!