A number of years before Arizona's admission to statehood, a midwesterner by the name of Irvin Walker came west to catch, gentle and sell wild horses. His first customer was the United States Cavalry at Fort Verde. Early on, he determined that he needed secure pasturage for his herd and so, in 1908, he homesteaded the M Diamond Ranch. In 1916 Walker brought the first cattle onto the ranch and, in subsequent years, added to both his deeded and leased property. Irvin Walker lived on the ranch until 1962 when he retired to Camp Verde.

The ranch today consists of 110 deeded acres and a 44,000 acre grazing allotment leased from the US Forest Service. The deeded acreage served as the winter headquarters for the original ranch. The allotment varies in elevation from 3800 feet to 7200 feet in the summer pasturage above the Mogollon Rim. The allotment is 17 miles long andƯ 2 to 3 miles wide, although in one spot at the Buckhorn Cabins above West Clear Creek as we climb the rim, the ranch is about 50 yards wide.

The M Diamond runs a commercial herd of cross-bred black Angus cattle, and also buys, trains and sells working ranch horses.

Read more about ranching in the West and rangeland management.

In addition to our cattle, the M Diamond is home to a large number of critters big and small including: elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, white tail deer, javelinas, Merriam's turkey, Gambel quail, Western bluebirds, eagles and hawks. There are occasional mountain lions and black bear and frequent rattle snakes and tarantulas. The southern boundary of the ranch is West Clear Creek canyon, a designated Wilderness area. The pressure of expanded human population and recreational use is felt everywhere in the West, and in all but the most remote areas of the M Diamond. With severe and lingering drought, wildlife is dependent on the same sources of water as livestock, namely the earthen catchment tanks created and maintained by the ranch.

One of the questions guests at the ranch frequently ask is "What do you feed your cattle?" The answer to this ("The grass that grows out of the ground.") is sometimes startling to them, but the ramifications are pretty profound. Because out on the range elk, deer, and antelope not only play, they graze and eat the grass just as the cattle do. And during a drought there sometimes is not enough to go around, so ranchers are forced to remove some of their cattle. Management of the grass that grows out of the ground and the water that falls from the sky is the basis for stewardship of range lands. In fact, ranchers are the true stewards of the wide open spaces of the West, a job which most take very seriously recognizing the interrelationships of habitat, water and animals. The primary goal of the M Diamond is to provide a sustainable existence for all who live on the ranch (people, livestock and wildlife). Since the quality of life for all is dependent on the quality of the habitat, we have undertaken a series of actions to improve the habitat, primarily by increasing forage and water. Working through the Coconino National Forest and in partnership with them, the Arizona Department of Game and Fish, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the University of Arizona, Quail Unlimited and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation we have

• Protected the riparian areas of West Clear Creek by developing an alternative source of water for livestock and wildlife
• Improved habitat for elk, deer and antelope by removing invasive species and restoring native grasses and shrubs
• Created mini-riparian areas and additional water for wildlife and livestock by adapting a well and drinker system
• Implemented watershed restoration projects to reduce erosion, improve water quality, restore native grasslands and reduce fuel loads on the forest
• Protected rangelands from overgrazing by monitoring forage conditions using a state-of-the-art system

The M Diamond is proud of its ongoing efforts to conserve and improve natural resources and is grateful for the support of its partners.