Reviving a Sacred Landscape in Tsegi Canyon: Vision, Planning, Design and Implementation; Fred Phillips

 

¹Fred Phillips Consulting, LLC, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA; Fphillips@fredphillipsconsulting.com

 

 

Navajo Nation lands located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah are highly degraded from over 100 years of feral and managed livestock overgrazing. Grazing permits were first issued on the Navajo Nation in the 1940s. The number of livestock permitted was based on livestock owned at the time and did not account for the carrying capacity of the land. This led to high stocking rates which expedited erosion, increased noxious weeds and degraded the land.

 

In 2014 a collaborative effort between the BIA, Navajo Nation, NPS and permit holders led by Fred Phillips Consulting (FPC) and Oxbow Ecological Engineering (OEE) was established to develop a grazing management plan for Tsegi and Nitsin Canyons. The primary purpose of these plans is to define carrying capacity of the land, propose sustainable grazing techniques and initiate riparian and range restoration.

 

Tsegi Canyon is located in northern Arizona, as part of the intricate and biologically diverse canyon system around Navajo National Monument in the western Navajo Nation. The canyon is also a cultural treasure having two unique archeological sites—Betatkin and Keet Seel cliff dwellings—that are managed by the National Park Service.

 

Currently, there are 14 permit holders in Tsegi Canyon permitted to graze over 850 sheep. In 2013 the land was determined to have a carrying capacity of 36 sheep units. Overgrazing in the canyon has led to severe environmental degradation. All permit holders recognized the degradation of the land and desired to initiate sustainable range management.

 

The pilot project for this plan was completed in October 2018. This included a deferment agreement for Keet Seel Canyon that was signed by the majority of permit holders, the construction of wildlife-friendly fencing across a steep, rugged canyon, 1000s of native plantings and the removal of wild horses and livestock. This initial effort will protect and restore over a 1000 acres of Tsegi Canyon. This project will serve as a model for other rangeland restoration projects on the Navajo Nation.