- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
After the destructive LNU Complex Fire burned through farms and ranches where Morgan Doran lives and works, he immediately volunteered to help families and local authorities take care of animal victims.
Nearly 300 animals – mainly horses, sheep, goats and alpacas – were killed during the LNU Complex Fire in Solano County. Some were hit by vehicles, others couldn't escape burning buildings.
“I helped locate animals that needed attention and shared burial and other disposal options and guidelines,” Doran said. He also created an online survey for dead or missing animal reporting.
Doran, also the director of UC Cooperative Extension in Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties, and his staff and partner organizations – including the USDA Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Districts, local resource conservation districts and county officials – have organized a free webinar to help local residents in fire recovery. The webinar is from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. Pre-registration is required.
Topics to be covered are:
- Navigating the agency alphabet soup for disaster assistance
- Understanding wildland fire impacts
- Impact of fire on oak woodlands, what to expect and what to do
- Impact of fire on rangelands, what to expect and what to do
- Impact of fire on orchard trees, what to expect and what to do
- Impact of fire on vineyards and wine grapes, what to expect and what to do
- Erosion risks and mitigation measures
- USDA disaster programs and how to apply
Evacuating animals
In areas where the Moc Fire burned near Moccasin, Calif., UC Cooperative Extension 4-H advisor in the Central Sierra, JoLynn Miller, joined partners to activate Team ELITE (Evacuation of Livestock in Tuolumne Emergencies) so trained volunteers could help move animals to safety and ensure they are fed and housed during the wildfire.
The organization was established in the wake of the 2015 Butte Fire, when officials recognized the need for coordinated animal evacuation planning. They drafted Miller, an experienced horsewoman and community volunteer, to spearhead the group.
“We work closely with and are dispatched by animal control during an emergency,” Miller said. “Team ELITE requires members to be trained in incident command systems and they are sworn Disaster Service Workers once they complete a Team ELITE orientation and training. The Moc Fire was the first fire where we've done evacuations.”
Team ELITE was placed on standby on Aug. 20. A few hours later, three teams were behind the fire lines.
“Volunteers worked throughout the night to pick up animals,” Miller said. “The first night we had donkeys, chickens, horses, alpacas and pigs evacuated.” The animals were held at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Tuolumne County.
The team spent three days, Aug. 22-24, feeding and watering animals. Aug. 25 the evacuation orders were lifted and they helped families get their animals back home.
For more information about Team ELITE, see its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TeamELITEinformation/
Valuing the losses
Federal, county, CALFIRE and other officials routinely turn to UCCE experts to gather information about the impact of wildfire on agricultural lands.
Two UC Cooperative Extension rangeland advisors, Theresa Becchetti of Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties and Sheila Barry of San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties, both cover areas burned by the SCU Fire.
In order for a disaster to be declared and for insurance payouts, a value must be attached to losses caused by the wildfire. In rangeland areas, components of the losses include hundreds of miles of fencing, forage, stock ponds and damage to the soil and seedbank that could impede grass growth for years. Livestock may also be lost in wildfires.
“In some respects, the SCU Fire was an invisible fire because it didn't threaten vineyards or redwoods – landscapes that get more attention. It is grassland, oak woodland and brushland. Some very small pockets of forest,” Barry said. “But it is actually the second largest fire in the state's history.”
Becchetti had previously developed a methodology for calculating forage losses. The two scientists were able to use the system for establishing the economic loss to ranchers and government agencies caused by the blaze. CALFIRE also used the information to inform the distribution of its firefighting resources.
“The Farm Service Agency has told us that the information we put together on the value of the area is enough for the local county committees to declare a disaster, which will release emergency cost share programs,” Becchetti said. “We are continuing conversations with the agencies in the four counties and starting to put information out for ranchers.”
UCCE will host meetings regarding fire recovery and disaster assistance programs. Visit local UC Cooperative Extension websites for details.
Dear Colleagues,
It is with deep sorrow that I pass along the heartbreaking news that Chuck Ingels, longtime UCCE advisor in Sacramento County, has lost his battle with cancer. After his remarkable improvement last year, we had hoped he would remain in remission. Chuck was a wonderful colleague and friend who will be missed by all of us who knew him. I received the news from Morgan Doran this morning and have included his note below.
I'd like to remind you of the emotional-support resources available from UC for academic and staff employees at https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/contacts/faculty-staff-assistance-programs.html.
Sincerely,
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
MESSAGE FROM MORGAN DORAN:
It is with profound sadness that I share with you the news that Chuck Ingels passed away at home yesterday, Sunday, August 12. As many of you know, Chuck was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in November 2017. Chuck underwent surgery to remove the tumor, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments and had made an astonishing rebound. Chuck even returned to work, focusing on projects he truly loved. Unfortunately, the cancer returned in late-May and was growing too aggressively to treat. Throughout all of this Chuck received tremendous love, care and support from his wife, Tracy Lesperance, and other family members and friends. Chuck's absence leaves an enormous void in all of us who knew and worked with him. His kindness was without boundaries and he exuded an incredible energy for living a life close to nature, especially plants, staying fit, being near people he enjoyed, and doing what he felt was right. Chuck will be dearly missed.
Chuck's family will have a private service and will plan a public Celebration of Life for a day in late-September or early-October. I will share the exact date when it is decided by Chuck's family. Sympathy cards can be addressed to the UCCE office in Sacramento County at 4145 Branch Center Road, Sacramento, CA 95827.
Sincerely,
Morgan P. Doran
Livestock & Natural Resources Advisor & Director
UC Cooperative Extension Capitol Corridor
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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Registration for the 2013 ANR Statewide Conference is open, and more than 200 people have already signed up. As co-chairs for the conference, we hope you have taken time to review the program and are making plans to attend. The agenda is engaging and stimulating, and the speakers were chosen to inspire and be thought provoking.
On the registration page there is a link to a list of registrants so you can see who will be attending. The Global Food Systems Forum is on the first day of the conference, Tuesday, April 9. The forum will be webcast so please help us spread the word to friends and colleagues.
The poster reception will highlight some ANR projects that exemplify the ANR Strategic Initiatives. If you would like to submit a poster, please send your request soon because space is filling quickly.
A key goal of the conference is to demonstrate ANR’s role in addressing and finding solutions to challenges in agriculture and in natural and human resources. These challenges, coupled with budget constraints, compel us to work more strategically, efficiently, and with better program planning and integration. All of our programs and each one of us plays a vital role in these efforts and your participation in discussions at the conference is important.
The conference program and session topics are designed to bring light to these challenges as well as to the role of ANR, the role of the UC system and our place in the Land Grant system, and they are certain to spark lively discussion on how ANR can best fulfill our mission.
We encourage conference attendees to participate in open discussions on science issues, program planning, personnel and policy. Program teams and workgroups will be meeting during the conference as well. If your workgroup needs meeting space, request it soon. We are counting on you to attend and contribute. March 8 is the last day for special lodging rates. We hope to see you in Ontario!
Sincerely,
Morgan Doran and Edie Allen
Conference Co-Chairs
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- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Ecosystem services is a new term I've been hearing. Naturally I wondered, what are these services and is the ecosystem serving me? Ecosystem services are benefits we receive from the environment, such as clean water, open space, beautiful scenery, food production, wildlife habitat and diversity of plants and animals.
Not surprisingly, ecosystem services appeal to a broad audience. However, in the past, many people advocated for a single favored service and would fight with those who were partial to a different service. Now there is a strong trend toward partnerships.
“There’s been sea change on the topic of livestock management and rangeland ecosystem services,” said Ken Tate, UC Cooperative Extension watershed specialist based at UC Davis.
In a scenario 20 years ago, many ranchers would have focused solely on livestock production and ranch profit, while some environmental groups would have voiced concerns solely about wildlife habitat, and a government regulatory agency may have considered water quality the most important service. All parties have begun to recognize the connections among these important services and the need to work together to enhance all of them.
“If a ranch is not economically viable, then there is risk that land could become a shopping mall or some other development,” Tate explained. “A working ranch provides more ecosystem services than developments such as malls or suburban sprawl.”
A UC study published in the current issue of California Agriculture journal found that rangeland owners valued their land for its natural amenities as well as a financial investment.
Recently more than 120 people representing new and long-time ranchers, conservation groups, federal and state natural resources agencies, UC scientists and others gathered for the “Managing Rangeland for Ecosystem Services Workshop and Field Day” to discuss their common goals.
“Interest in this event reflects the growing interest in ecosystem services in a growing number of people,” said Tate, who organized the Oct. 18 event at UC’s Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, located 60 miles northeast of Sacramento. “Some people drove four or five hours to attend.”
At the workshop, Tate introduced the Prescribed Grazing for Ecosystem Service Project.
Despite their different backgrounds and ecosystem service priorities, there was no adversarial discussion among the attendees, observed participant Morgan Doran, UC Cooperative Extension livestock & natural resources advisor for Solano County.
“Everyone seemed to be in agreement that livestock are a useful tool in sustaining a healthy rangeland ecosystem,” Doran said. “And all seemed to acknowledge a need to better understand the balance of provisioning goods and services from rangeland systems.”
“We used to talk about one service at a time,” Tate said. “Now we talk about tradeoffs and synergies involved in managing for many services simultaneously. Optimizing water quality might take away from profitability. Talking about tradeoffs used to be confrontational. Now if we can understand the costs of these tradeoffs, there may be an individual or organization willing to pay for that difference. Basically, purchasing ecosystem services.”
Tate credits the workshop cosponsor California Rangeland Conservation Coalition for fostering the collaborative attitude. UC is among the more than 100 agricultural organizations, environmental interest groups, and state and federal agencies that have signed the California Rangeland Resolution, which recognizes that rangelands and the diversity of species they support largely exist due to grazing and other stewardship practices of the ranchers who own and manage the land.
“New people have come to the table who might not have gotten involved in a negative process,” Tate said. “The coalition is a positive approach to the conservation of rangelands, that makes it attractive to people. They are working together to achieve common goals.”
Tate is excited about Cooperative Extension’s role of trying to identify the information needs and conducting the research to supply this information.
Leslie Roche, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher and presenter, remarked on the interest and enthusiasm in collaborative research and management demonstrated among the diverse group of attendees.
“Everyone is genuinely motivated to work together in bridging the gap between research and management communities on this topic, and that is really exciting," Roche said.
A list of speakers and their presentations for the workshop and field day are posted on the California Rangeland Watershed Laboratory website.
Although the term ecosystem service was unfamiliar to me, it’s not new. In 2000, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The objective of the project was, “to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for action needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contribution to human well-being.”
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961, he not only sent thousands of Americans to serve the cause of peace in the developing world, he set them on a course of service that continued when they returned to the U.S. A significant number came to work for UC Cooperative Extension.
One of them is Jim Grieshop, a now-retired UCCE community education development specialist, who was profiled in an article in the February issue of Alaska Airlines Magazine marking the Peace Corps' 50th anniversary.
Acceptance into the Peace Corps helped Grieshop achieve his personal goal of living and working in Latin America, the article said. In May 1964, he arrived in Cayambe, Ecuador, to spend two years as a science teacher. He quickly learned to be flexible.
"The science teacher in the village didn't really want me to teach science," Grieshop was quoted in the story. "So I taught English in primary schools and the high school . . . . We put on a rodeo, we did some summer programs - I was kind of making it up as I went along."
Here are some of the other UCCE academics, past and present, who served in the Peace Corps:
Monica Cooper, viticulture farm advisor in Napa County, volunteered in an agrarian community in Panama.
Jeff Dahlberg, director of the UC Kearney Agriculture Research and Extension Center, served for three years in the Republic of Niger.
Chris Dewees, retired specialist in Cooperative Extension marine fisheries, volunteered in Chile.
Morgan Doran, livestock and natural resources farm advisor in Solano County, volunteered in Ecuador.
Ben Faber, Ventura County farm advisor, served in Togo, Africa.
Mark Gaskell, small farm advisor in San Luis Obispo County, served in Venezuela.
Juan Guerrero, retired farm advisor emeritus for Riverside and Imperial counties, worked with subsistence farmers and large-scale commercial farmers in Paraguay and Peru.
Glenda Humiston, vice president, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, served in Tunisia, North Africa.
Susan Laughlin, retired regional director, spent three years in Colombia.
David Lewis, watershed management advisor in Marin County, volunteered in Niger.
Mike Marzolla, retired 4-H advisor in Ventura County, coordinated a school and community garden program in Guatemala.
Richard Molinar, retired small-scale farm advisor for Fresno County, served in Honduras.
Jeff Mitchell, cropping systems specialist, UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, served in Botswana, Africa.
Rachel Surls, UCCE sustainable food systems advisor in Los Angeles County, served in Honduras.
Jack Williams, the retired Sutter/Yuba county director, worked alongside farmers in Kenya, Africa.
Ken Wilmarth, former 4-H advisor in Stanislaus County, and his wife, Jenny, spent two years in Chavin, Peru.
Have I missed any UCCE Peace Corps volunteers? Please post a comment letting me know.