It is the same story with "family farms" in Iowa--to keep the land, families have to look for other sources of income. Ranching is a difficult profession. Folks here have lasted through devastating droughts, and they've seen hard times before. Today ranchers will build a guest house or two on their land or they'll allow hunting. They'll build trails for hiking, birding, or mountain biking. I bear some responsibility here--to publicize the region so tourists will come here on vacation, and to build the economic development side of our program to assist landowners who want to diversify their business. This helps me feel needed here, although I recognize I'm not much help yet. I've got so much to learn, I don't always recognize the "dots" right in front of my face, even though my role is to "help connect" them. That's where a good board comes to play. And I've got a great board to help me learn as I stumble through.
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