This Field Notes entry from the IWJV's SONEC Conservation Delivery Coordinator Ed Contreras was written for Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's "In the Arena" series as an autobiography of his life and career. Ed’s conservation work involves developing conservation programs and projects to assist private landowners as they steward water and land for wildlife. Here is his story.

People traveled from across the nation to Pat's ranch in rural southern Wyoming and it was remarkable to see the multitude of people he inspired and the many deep relationships fostered over his lifetime.

On one side of the fence, the vegetation had succumbed mainly to the summer heat and was brown and crispy. Invasive annual grasses carpeted the earth, thick below larger native perennial grasses and forbs. Conversely, the vegetation on the other side of the fence was emerald green, lush, and dominated by Wyoming’s native range plants.