Heidi Redd is a local legend. Many may recognize the last name Redd, which belongs to an established family of ranchers based mostly out of La Sal. In 2023, Redd published a memoir called “A Cowgirl’s Conservation Journey,” written along with Larisa Bowen, a writer with the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy. The book recounts Redd’s gritty adventures and is laced with a love that extends from the rock features of the region to the cowhands who have worked on the ranch.
Redd will be reading from and speaking about her new memoir at a free event at the library on October 15 at 6 p.m.
Moab Sun News spent a morning with Redd at the Dugout Ranch in Indian Creek, learning about her unique character and what she’s spent her life creating.
While she flipped through the large colorful collection of her life stories, with the wingate sandstone looking on, she reflected on the animals that had made an appearance in her life — the ringtail cat her son befriended, a bear she roped, and of course the cattle and the horses — including her first horse she bought for five dollars when she was eight. Speaking with nostalgia, she reflected on the humans that have shaped her life: her husband, sons and friends who helped her persevere in a challenging field of ranching in the desert.
“That’s one thing about the divorce — you still have the kids, but you are never a family again,” Redd said.
Her divorce with Charles Redd ignited a change in the nature of the area. After he put his portion of the ranch up for sale, Heidi sought to keep her land as a conservation zone to protect the riparian habitat for numerous globally rare and vulnerable plants. Specifically, some of these areas were identified as “relict areas,” or places that had hardly been disturbed since early settlement.
At a time when ranchers and conservationists weren’t working together, she carried the vision to save one of the last great places of the West. In 1997, she worked with The Nature Conservancy to protect 42 miles of this precious life source for the arid region. The land is now owned by The Nature Conservancy and hosts sustainability programs and groundbreaking research, including cryptobiotic soil farms and cows bred to have a lighter impact on the land and be more drought-resistant in a warming climate. Since its transition, the land has hosted scientists and students, all eager to experience the magic of the Dugout Ranch. One of those is the NATURE program — Native American Tribes Undertaking Restoration and Education.
The memoir contains photos of some of the key people who laid the groundwork for the agreement between the ranch and the conservation organization. Redd flipped to a picture of Scott M. Matheson, Utah’s governor from 1971-1985, who was monumental in creating an atmosphere of conservation in the state. Additionally, The Nature Conservancy Director Dave Livermore and TNC Utah Director of Conservation Chris Montague helped to secure the deal.
“I can’t imagine leaving here. It’d be like leaving your heart,” she said under the massive cottonwood tree that guards a small pond and draws water from the creek below.
The book is saturated with the details of her ranching lifestyle, gripped with every twist and turn and heart-wrenching decision, and tearing up at the amazing journey her life has taken her on.
Even the adventure seeking recreationists around Moab can only hope to be half as bold as her. From jumping out of airplanes and taking a risk to move her stable life as a teacher in Salt Lake City down to rural Utah, to riding horses and being trapped in the freezing cold, raising kids and birthing calves, buying and flying a prop plane to view her cattle from above, to being inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame– she has quite a lot to brag about.
But her biggest concern is making sure the land she loves is protected for future generations. It’s this selfless dedication that makes her life an inspiration for all people. Her main advice is to fall in love with the land.
Bowen said helping to write the book was “not a typical project,” but she stuck with it. Over two years, Redd shared with Bowen her wild memories in vivid detail. Bowen looked for themes that ran through the stories, and encouraged Redd to dig for more color and texture, “bringing the reader right into the saddle.”
What Bowen enjoyed most was learning how Redd had evolved from a young college girl to a dedicated rancher. She followed the crossroads of Redd’s decisions that included risk, love, and learning to manage other people and the ranch. Bowen was especially captivated by the way Redd embraced the land and the lifestyle. She describes her as someone with integrity — with a true north compass in her heart.
“Heidi is tough and strong and yet vulnerable to all-consuming love,” Bowen said. It’s that tension she captured in this beautiful memoir. While she recognizes Redd isn’t the only one out there who has developed a relationship with the land, Bowen hopes that the memoir will help others reflect on their own relationship with nature.
Many climbers love the Indian Creek area for the endless walls of cracks and community– both human and nature. Reading this story, they may gain a new perspective— that of a dedicated cowgirl. And although the focus of climbers’ and cowboys’ lives are vastly different, the shared love of this magical landscape and commitment to conserving it are likely jointly cherished.
Heidi Redd is a legend, and a living legend at that. Come see for yourself and bring your best questions — Heidi is sure to have answers that inspire you to live a life worth talking about.
Tuesday, October 15th at 6:00pm, Redd will be at the Moab Library for a reading and conversation in collaboration with the Moab Museum. For more information call 435-259-1111 or visit moablibrary.org or moabmuseum.org.
