Ranching families in New Mexico face a difficult dilemma.

Last week I was in New Mexico attending a conference organized by the Quivira Coalition, a group dedicated to bringing together “ranchers, conservationists, scientists and public land managers around concepts of progressive cattle management, innovative stewardship and improved land health.” The topic of the three-day event was “The Carbon Ranch: Using Food and Stewardship to Build Soil and Fight Climate Change.” It was quite an experience for this city slicker — a confab of cowboy–booted and -hatted ranchers and scientists talking about carbon sequestration and global warming.

Dude for a Weekend

But the real eye-opener came post-conference, when I was the guest of one of its organizers, Nancy Ranney, at her