The divots left from the imprinter can hold up to a gallon of water and have been seeded with 15-20 seeds each, creating a germination nursery ready to receive seasonal rains.
Gordon Tooley walks through an area of Lordsburg Playa that has been seeded and imprinted to encourage grass growth.
The dust in the Lordsburg Playa is light and easily released by wind and other disturbances.
Tooley describes this landscape as tattered fabric. With careful planning and hard work, he hopes to “make some new clothes.”
Tooley’s three-part system allows him to make one pass with the tractor to achieve three tasks (deep plowing, seeding and imprinting), saving time and reducing soil compaction from the weight of the tractor.
By placing a seeder and imprinter behind the keyline plow, Tooley is able to aerate the soil, spread location appropriate seeds and create a nursery-like environment for the seeds to take advantage of any precipitation that falls in this arid region of the southwestern US.
Gordon Tooley, owner of Tooley’s Trees and Keyline Plow, uses his tractor and unique set of attachments to contour the land.
Soraya Romero creates “one rock dams” along arroyos (drainage ditches) in an effort to slow and spread precipitation into the landscape.
Gordon Tooley, Van Clothier and Mike Gaglio work to rehydrate and revegetate land around Lordsburg Playa that has been overgrazed for decades.
Fencing is being installed to keep cattle out of areas that have been plowed, seeded and imprinted. The hope is that this will give the grasses a chance to take root and recreate a prennial grassland.
Gordon Tooley, Van Clothier and Mike Gaglio work to rehydrate and revegetate land around Lordsburg Playa that has been overgrazed for decades.
Gordon Tooley, Van Clothier and Mike Gaglio work to rehydrate and revegetate land around Lordsburg Playa that has been overgrazed for decades.
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Photos by Esha Chiocchio