A ranch in the San Francisco Bay Area was the backdrop for a meeting between environmentalists, ranchers, and resource professionals from federal and state agencies. From this meeting of former foes in the Summer of 2005, participants drafted a resolution documenting common ground for the conservation of the rangeland encircling the Central Valley, including the Sierra foothills and interior Coast Ranges. The California Rangeland Resolution recognizes that these rangelands and the diversity of species they support is largely due to grazing and other land stewardship practices of the ranchers that own and manage them.
The resolution is currently signed by over 65 agricultural organizations, environmental interest groups, as well as state and federal agencies. New signatories continue to sign on to the resolution on a regular basis. Together these signatories form the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition. The signatories have pledged to work together to preserve and enhance California’s rangeland for species of special concern, while supporting the long-term viability of the ranching industry. Partners either conceptually support the work of the coalition or are actively engaged in working with other partners to fulfill the underlying principles of the coalition stated in the resolution.
Partners have gathered the past two January’s for the annual Summit. The Summit is an opportunity to build trust, hear from researchers about the ecological benefits of grazing and define the Rangeland Coalition’s action plan for the year. The action plan lays the foundation for coalition members to work together to acquire additional federal funding for conservation programs, coordinate permitting processes, garner support for cooperative conservation projects, fulfill research gaps, and provide landowner assurances and incentives for proactive voluntary conservation.
The value of grazing and other land stewardship practices of California’s ranchers is being increasingly acknowledged as not only a preferred land use but also as an essential resource management tool. Recent published research studies on rangelands throughout California have documented the positive impact of grazing on habitat of several species of special concern. For additional details please look over the rangeland research included on this site.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) corroborated their commitment to the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition by funding a Rangeland Director position to advance the goals of the Coalition. Tracy Schohr serves as the coalition staff and works to preserve California’s private rangelands by coordinating the efforts of this unique partnership.
For more information about the rangeland coalition, visit www.carangeland.org, or call CCA’s Tracy Schohr at (916) 444-0845.
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