History

Over the past century, the traditional ranching operations found in the oak savannas, grasslands, and coastal prairies of California’s Central Coast have been subdivided and converted to a vast sea of human development.  It has become increasingly important to manage remaining rangelands with an eye towards preserving both ecological and economic sustainability.  

In recognition of the unique challenges faced by rangeland managers and livestock operators in the greater Bay Area, the Central Coast Rangeland Coalition (CCRC) formed as a group committed to using current science to promote sound rangeland stewardship.  To meet ecosystem and civic goals, the founders created a collaborative partnership between ranchers, conservation groups, agency personnel, researchers, students, land managers, policy makers, consultants, and others. Together, this group acts synergistically to exchange the resources, ideas, and expertise necessary to succeed in addressing conservation goals across the landscape.  As a team, the group fosters constructive dialogue, strives to provide benefits across the community, and serves as a model for cooperative conservation and economic problem-solving beyond the Central Coast. One of the hallmarks of a CCRC meeting is the use of breakout groups after each significant segment of a workshop, allowing everyone to think about and discuss their reactions and ideas about the material just presented.

The CCRC’s diverse members represent roughly 200 thousand acres of private rangeland, and many more thousands of acres of public rangeland across California’s central coast, including Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo Counties.  Established in 2002, the CCRC was born from the understanding that this ecoregion has a distinctive combination of climate, plant and animal communities, human presence, and rangeland use opportunities.  

The group’s primary focus is on collating and disseminating information on contemporary advances in relevant tools and scientific research. Members agreed early on that the CCRC would not advocate for any specific management style, and that anything presented should be validated by scientific research or expert opinion.  Topics of workshops have included forage production, soil stability, watershed function, nutrient cycling, biological diversity, habitat quality, livestock safety, water quality, native and invasive species, vegetation structure, rancher economics, grazing systems, etc.

The CCRC holds meetings twice each year where experts present and discuss their work and share their experiences; members participate in on-site, field-based excursions to see these practices in action, as well as small group activities to facilitate information sharing.  In 2011, the CCRC also began the Rancher, Manager, and Scientist Forum on Rangeland Conservation, a funding opportunity that supports graduate student literature reviews on priority topics, and maintains an online archive of past workshop presentations and related information (read more here). 

Ecological processes do not begin and end at property boundaries - appropriate management requires the kind of holistic and collaborative approach that groups like the CCRC provide.