2017 SUMMIT & CALIFORNIA RANGELAND CONSERVATION COALITION

CONTRIBUTION and BOOTH PLEDGE

We need you! Contribute early for longer promotion.

Open to organizations, ranches, agencies, individuals, colleges and businesses who support California rangelands. Sponsors will be promoted fully at the Summit and in the Coalition’s weekly E-update and website. Recognition begins upon your pledge.

Download and complete the 2017-summit-contribution-pledge and send via email to Karen Sweet. 

1. Payment: a. Submit the form with payment to TCI/CRCC,  405 14th St., Ste. 164, Oakland, CA  94612-2705   OR   b. Pay online with credit card: http://www.trustforconservationinnovation.org/sponsored/  (click Donate)  Contributions to CRCC through Trust for Conservation Innovation are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.  You will receive an itemized receipt. An I-9 for this contribution may be requested.
2. Submit Summit attendee name(s) to Karen as soon as known.  925.443-7692   ksweet@cattlemen.net
3. Sponsorship does not include Thursday’s tour or social. Additional Summit registration opens early December.
4. Booth: 1 six-foot table or floor space. Booths will be accepted upon payment until full.  Instructions will be provided.
5. Visit the Summit page for more information.

• Eligibility to share logo or ranch brand –   Send to Karen by Dec 30 if not on file.

CRCC appreciates your own important contributions to California’s rangelands.

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From the mountain top overlooking the Rim Fire to the Ag Center in Stockton, the talk was about 

Wildfire and Rangeland Management – Mediating Impacts to Conservation and Ranching.

The 2016 Rangeland Summit addressed challenges and opportunities to improve rangeland management aimed at reducing the incidence (scope and severity) of catastrophic wildfire.  Two of the state’s most devastating wildfires occurred in the past year and yet the full impact of these fires to conservation interest and rancher sustainability is yet to be determined.  The prospect of a normal rainfall year raised additional wildfire concern. Co-sponsored by California Rangeland Conservation Coalition (CRCC) and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), the January event brought together more than 300 individuals from various walks of life to learn more about the topic that they could apply on their own private or public rangelands and in their communities.

Speakers from UCCE, the California Cattlemen’s Association, Cal Fire, UC Berkeley, local ranchers, and high school Range Campers, Mary Marsh and Jane Wood shared their personal experiences and knowledge about rangeland management and wildfire.   Each talk was individually videotaped and published on the UCCE website to expand the Summit’s reach.  Ranchers, Doug Joses and Shaun Crook shared compelling insights from recent fires.  CCA Vice President, Government Relations Justin Oldfield’s presentation, A Beef Industry Perspective: Economic, Social & Range Management Impacts Caused by Wildfire  especially enlightened the non-ranchers.  Other presentations covered fire behavior and science, and fuels management, and impacts of catastrophic fire on California’s rangelands, and the state of current science for post-fire grazing management.  Many participants toured fire sites where local experiences and lessons were shared and discussed – Butte Fire (Amador/Calaveras County), Rim Fie (Tuolumne County) and Tesla Fire (Alameda).

Share the Summit presentations link with others in your community or organizations as a catalyst for communication and planning to mediate the impacts of wildfire in your community.

Who attended the Summit?  Everyone had wildland fire and rangeland management concerns in common, and they wanted information to use as they plan forward to the 2016 fire season and beyond. Participation was very diverse by profession (29% ranchers, 13% public land managers, 22% ‘other’, 19% organizations, and 18 academic/student).  Sixty-five percent of them had personal experience with rangeland wildfire, and half of those had it within five years.

The Summit provided useful information that facilitated consensus among these diverse stakeholders on several items.

• Livestock grazing is valuable as a management tool on pre-fire management to reduce wildfire severity.
• Research is needed about connecting wildfire and rangelands, post-fire grazing, the values of different livestock species, and about cattle behavior. Importantly also, the available research should be utilized.
• Participants told us how they plan to utilize what they heard.

Based on the pre-and post-presentations survey there was a change in attitude about management tools that favored better planning, collaboration and use of livestock grazing. “I will look at opportunities to reduce understory vegetation.”  “I need to work with neighbors and address agency barriers.”  “On my property: keep roads graded, open & mapped; have water trucks and tanks FULL; build more firebreaks.”   “Work closer with fire departments and other agencies, RCDs at all levels for local planning. Be collegial and persistent.  Consider how local ranchers can help. Know the logistics & position of wells, ponds, roads, driveways and the neighboring operators.” “I will promote communication between different departments in my agency and expand grazing on our agency property as part of forest management program and bring in stakeholders to influence it.”  “Our agency could potentially act as a liaison between ranchers & agencies to help communicate needs and initiate coordinated planning and emergency responses.”

Broader than the wildfire topic, non-ranchers increased their understanding about ranching.  They better understand regulatory barriers in management decision-making, and the relationship of private land to public allotments, and ranching economics and viability.  Non-ranchers shared these comments. “We need economic and market solutions for ranching sustainability.  It’s not profitable.” “I learned the importance of public land allotments for ranching vitality.” “I need to consider long term licenses on my agency’s land” to have animals familiar with the land and consistent grazing.

More broadly, “I learned to consider things from multiple perspectives.”  That, after all is the purpose of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition.

An article in California Agriculture summarizes the results of a survey of ranchers in the Rangeland Coalition focus area on the ecological and economic importance of the Williamson Act. The project is the result of collaboration among UC Davis, the California Cattlemen’s Association and the Rangeland Coalition. Click here to read story.

Rangeland Coalition writes article for Western Cowman, showcases stories of three individuals, whose perceptions for the ranching industry were changed in lights of increased knowledge “science”, talking to ranchers and visiting a ranch. Click here to read the story.

The May edition of the California Cattleman Magazine featured a story “Working Together: Paths to the perseverance of ranching,” highlighting the value of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition. Click here to read the story.

Today’s ranch management has been influenced by a multitude of sources. Many practices have been passed down from one generation to the next, while others have developed over a shorter period of time through a multitude of trial by error experiments. Click here to read the story.

The San Francisco Chronicle article features ranchers involved in the Rangeland Coalition and notes, “These days, environmentalists are happy to see ranchers and cows out there…Around the Bay Area, grazing is being used to create and maintain habitat for threatened species such as the San Joaquin kit fox, the burrowing owl, the red-legged frog, the tiger salamander, the bay checkerspot butterfly and the Ohlone tiger beetle.” Click here to read the story.

Feature story by Rangeland Coalition partner, California Cattlemen’s Association – Current Findings on Grazing Impacts: California’s special status species benefit from grazing. Click here to read the story.

Feature story by Rangeland Coalition partner, California Native Grasslands Association – Managing California’s grassland ecosystems for Burrowing Owls. Click here to read the story.

Feature story by Rangeland Coalition partner, California Native Grasslands Association – Restoration through modern interpretation of yesterday’s action. Click here to read the story.

Native bees worth billions of dollars a year, researchers say. But the bees are disappearing as California’s rangelands are sold to developers. Click here to read the story.

Bring on the cows. Save the rare flowers. An endangered yellow wildflower that a decade ago had dwindled to just 30 plants in its last Contra Costa County stronghold is rebounding with the help of cattle grazing. Click here to read the story.

“As I would ride up, it looked like the ground was moving – they was so thick,” Modoc County rancher Rodney Flournoy recalled his grandfather telling him in the mid-20th century. “I watched with pain as the numbers of those birds continued to decline. … It has been eight or 10 years since I have seen any anywhere, and I do mourn their passing.” Click here to read the story.

The front page of the Modesto Bee featured a story on the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition Summit and the benefits of working rangelands. Click here to read the story.

The simple fact is that the only practical way we will retain sufficient habitat for the rangeland wildlife of California is through the maintenance of viable cattle ranching operations! A Sierra Club member shares his passion for birds and appreciation of California’s Rangelands. See why environmentalist and ranchers are finding common ground. Click here to read the story.

The Carey Ranch provides valuable habitat to many species of resident and migratory game and no-game wildlife. With the assistance of partners, a 3-year wet meadow and riparian enhancement project improved wildlife habitat, forage available for livestock grazing and overall ranch management. Click here to read the story.

Rangeland Coalition supported easement on acquired on ranch in Napa County by, partner, California Rangeland Trust. Click here to read the story.