Are there any Broad Acre Permaculture examples along the front range?

Hi Folks,
I have recently become more interested in broad acre permaculture designs (keyline farming, hollistic management, carbon farming and similar).
I was wondering if anyone knows of any examples along the frontrange (new mexico up through wyoming)? I have read about a few people managing grazers (in CO) based on the hollistic management/planned grazing, but i was hoping to find someone that has incorporated a broader range of permaculture techniques.

there are some unique challenges along the front range, the legality of the water that falls from the sky being the biggest imo. (CO specific)
compacted, low organic matter soil/clay, large high/low temp swings etc etc

As i look to the future, i am hoping to get to a point to begin designing a large 75+ acre farm. it would be great to see others who have started down this road, as well as find some local broad acre examples.

Thanks in advance for any help.
kelly

Hello Kelly, I am near Denver, Have you seen any of these links ?

http://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado+permaculture&FORM=AWRE&adlt=strict

i have seen most of those and i have tried to contact most along the front range (im west of pueblo)
i've found that when i email someone i typically get added to a email list, but never get a response to my questions. (this goes for inquiring about PDC classes also)

I know the CRMPI folks are very active, but i was hoping for something more along the front range/ a bit lower altitude.
I have not seen any permaculture demonstration sites for the northern colorado folks, nor for the southern colorado folks.

I have heard of folks in northern CO and a few in southern CO that are doing rotational grazing, mostly revolving around the meat production. I am hoping to view a bit more integrated system.

Yeah. Capturing rain in CO can be a serious problem.

There are ways to do it without creating legal hassles:

Keyline plowing will help 'naturally' keep it from just washing down slope.
An increase from 1% to 3% organic matter will double the soil's water holding capacity.
One foot x one foot swales along contour are actually where you plan to plant potatoes next spring.
Cover crops will absorb much of it, allow it to penetrate deeper...and hold it on property until summer drought.

If your land holds all of the rain that falls on it, that is just good farming practices, not sinister "theft".

Good luck.

i received a email back from someone at pike peak premaculture as it relates to demo sites.
pikes peak permaculture doesnt have any demo sites, but there are a few people who have developed sites in the colorado springs area.

There are no broad acre examples that i know of.

the hunt will continue.

Hi Kelly,

I'm not sure about the exact location of the front range, but sustainable settings is in Colorado
http://www.sustainablesettings.org/

also, one of my co-teachers on our upcoming Montana Whole Farm Fertility class (Owen Hablutzel) does work in CO and knows Hol. Mgmt. and Permaculture sites there.

From your interest list, it sounds like our workshop might be right up your alley too.

If you would like to participate in a 5-day immersion in the concepts of Holistic planned grazing and Keyline Design, then come to our workshop in June in Wilsall, Montana. we will be demonstrating the use of the Yeomans Plow, surveying for Keyline Design, Pasture assessment, and more.

for info on this workshop and to register you can visit our website
http://www.montanawholefarmfertility.com/

If you have any specific questions or comments, please post to our permies.com thread
https://permies.com/t/23837/rockies/Montana-Farm-Fertility-Workshop-Learn

cheers,
Neil