Is the way cattle are grazed the key to saving America's threatened prairies?

An unlikely alliance of ranchers and conservationists is working to find the best way to preserve biodiversity on grassland in Oregon

Photographs by Leon Werdinger

In the north-east corner of Oregon there is a traffic jam of weathered pickups and horse trailers on the Zumwalt Road. Redwing blackbirds trill over the bellowing of hundreds of cattle clustered by corrals, the sign of a spring branding in progress. Half a dozen cowgirls and cowboys on horseback circle the herd, lassoing calves for brands, vaccinations and, for the steers, castration. The smell of singed hair hangs in the warm air.

Standing in the centre of the scrum is Dan Probert, owner of Lightning Creek Ranch. Probert, 56, smiles as he watches the roping teams deftly manoeuvre his animals.