Cerise Ranch

Salmon, Idaho

Lowell, Mary, Lillian, Avery, & Quincy Cerise.

The Cerise Ranch is pretty darn special. Let me tell you why we think so. For starters, it is our family ranch. That means that my husband, three daughters, and myself all contribute to the success of the ranch, the quality of life for our animals, and the care of the land.

Let me introduce you to the family: Lowell, a second generation cattle rancher, originally from Western Colorado left home as a very young man in search of country that was still wild and a place where he could raise cattle in a landscape that would likely look the same a few decades later. Lowell found that place in Salmon, Idaho. It is far enough off the beaten path that you kind of have to work hard to get here. (We really like that) Lowell has been raising cattle and caring for the land since he was old enough to walk, and doing that in Salmon for two decades.

I am Mary, mom, wife, night-calver (cow doula), haying assistant, hair braider, sandwich maker, taxi driver, etc. I was raised gypsy and moved often. I had a love for horses since I was just a wee little thing. I often joked in my younger (and single) years how I had to bartend or wait tables at night to support my ranch habit. I always made sure I had day work with ranches or riding colts. I met my husband and well, the rest as they say is history!

Together, we have three amazing young daughters. Lillian is 9, smart, capable, and the first one of the three girls to master the big John Deere Power Shift tractor (with a wagon). Avery, 7, is undeniably “ranchy”. This kid gets it. She can tell you which cow doesn’t have a good bag or which calf was slow to get up and suck. Then there’s our little peanut Quincy. Quincy just turned 5 and this one… Oh boy! She is personality plus. Her greatest quality, other than keeping us laughing all of the time, is her deep rooted sense of empathy. Holy buckets, this kid loves everything with 4 legs and wants to bring every calf, chicken, puppy, donkey, you name it, home. And by home, I mean inside. Preferably her bedroom.

I’d like to share a little about our “place”. Our home, our place in the world, it’s pretty fantastic. We live in an extremely rural community that is the most geographically isolated community by roadless wilderness areas in the lower 48 states. So, if you want to go to a Target, 2.5 hours. Another grocery store (we only have one, and it is closed on Sundays) 2.5 hours. Yep. What’s fantastic about this is: 1. Hard to get here. 2. Less than 6% deeded land base in our county (that’s 94% federal or state owned land) means it can only grow so big. 3. It’s a real community. We stick together, help each other out, wave at everyone. 4. Because of the large expanses of wilderness and BLM, we have developed really unique partnerships with our friends at the agencies to ensure the health of our animals, land, and water.

In a nutshell, it’s just us. Just a family, moving water to make the grass grow, making hay to winter the cattle, calving the cows to regenerate the ranch, tending the land to keep our forests and animals healthy, raising food for our family and yours.