Gerda Hyde and her husband Dayton and their family own a 5,000 acre ranch in Southern Oregon. The ranch has been in the family since 1911. Gerda & Dayton aquired ownership in 1959. "We’ve always been interested in taking care of the land," says Gerda. "If we don’t take good care of it, we won’t have it."

To improve their caretaking skills, since 1987 they have used Allen Savory’s Holistic Resource Management philosphy in shaping management of their ranch. The Hydes regard their cattle as a tool to improve the land. They rotate their grazing areas and have rebuilt the quality of their soil, as well as reintroducing native plant species.

One-fourth of their acreage was converted to wetlands, 5 miles of trout stream was restored, a 312-Acre lake was built to attract waterfowl, and 220,000 lodgepole and ponderosa pine seedlings were hand-planted in logged-over areas by this energetic lady and her family, especially son John.

Their work was rewarded with an increase in the amount of forage available for the cattle, and were able to double their beef production. "For a lot of years, we just looked at fat cows," says John Hyde. "But if we look at healthy soil and healthy plants, the fat cattle will be a by-product of that. When I came back from Oregon State University in 1980 this ranch barely supported one family," John continues. "It’s supporting three families now."(Left: Gerda with granddaughter Steph;  Right: Gerda with daughter Ginny)

Despite the success of their cattle operation, the Hydes have had to diversify economically to survive. They make their ranch available to fly fishing guests, to the tune of about 400 person-days per year.

(Above: Dinner at the Hyde's with fly fishermen; Lower Right: Preparing a pitchfork fondue meal)

"Our greatest success is being able to have good fishing and healthy cattle," Gerda says, "and have family still here and interested in the ranch. The biggest challenge, on the other hand, has been working with the government. We’re surrounded by national forest, and we’re grazing permittees. We graze our cattle there. But the government is not ready to be innovative."

As if she weren’t busy enough running a ranch and a guest house, Gerda Hyde organized the Upper Williamson River Management Team to spread holistic management approaches to neighbors, federal land managers and the Klamath Tribe throughout the watershed.

One of Gerda’s greatest frustrations is the fact that despite her repeated efforts to get some support for putting electricity into her area, she must still cook on a wood stove and light kerosene lamps. According to the governmental powers that be, the Rural Electrification Administration finished its work years ago. But Gerda and others who live in Oregon’s Outback know different.