Cattle Grazing and Wildfire Fuels
Thursday, April 20, 2023
8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Location:
Little Farm located at
Tilden Nature Area Environmental Educational Center
1500 Central Park Drive, Berkeley, CA
This workshop will provide the latest research on cattle grazing and fire behavior. Our panelist- fire fighters, ranchers, and land managers- will discuss challenges and opportunities to use cattle grazing for fuels reduction. We will also consider how to balance fuel reduction with other management goals including water quality, habitat, and ranch economics. During our field tour we will visit sites along the Nimitz Trail. This trail goes between Tilden Park (ungrazed since the 1930s) and Wildcat Canyon Park (continuously grazed by cattle in recent history). This location is study of several studies on shrub encroachment and we will hear from Dr. Joe McBride (professor emeritus at UCB and author of papers on shrub encroachment at Tilden Park). We will also view a site where goats were used to manage vegetation. Differences between cattle and goat grazing for fuels management will be discussed.
| Felix Ratcliff | Rangeland Conservation Scientist LD Ford, Consultants in Rangeland Conservation Science |
| Grey Hayes | Cal Poly |
| Dina Robertson | East Bay Regional Park District Wildland Vegetation Program Manager |
| Rowan Peterson | UC Davis Graduate Student, CCRC Forum Scholar |
| Roxanne Foss | Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting |
| Paul Silva | Rancher, grazing tenant at Crocket Hills Regional Park, and Contra Costa County Fire Department Battalion Chief |
| Jeff Wiedemann | Rancher and grazing tenant at Bishop Ranch Open Space |
| Collin Gallagher | East Bay Regional Park District Fire Captain |
| Allison Rofe | East Bay Regional Park District Rangeland Specialist |
| Jim Mohring | Grazing tenant at Wildcat Canyon Regional Park |
| Joe McBride | UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning |
List of Attendees, non-harvestable
Shrub Encroachment in Tilden Park. Historical, ecological, and management considerations
Presentation: Cattle grazing to manage wildfire
fuels in California rangelands
Grazing Reduces Shrub Encroachment
Presentation: How much to graze to reduce fire hazards
Cattle grazing reduces fuel and leads to more manageable fire behavior