Posts Tagged: Sierra

Scientists to minimize impact of High Sierra grazing

University of California, U.S. Forest Service and other agencies will work together to understand the impact of cattle grazing in the High Sierra and look for solutions to water quality problems, according to an article in the Sonora Union Democrat.

UC Davis Cooperative Extension watershed specialist Ken Tate and interim director of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at UC Davis Rob Atwill will design and conduct the study. The first samples have already been collected.

In the story, writer Ashley Archibald reported that the scientists are seeking to fix problems, not just document them.

“It’s good to focus on what are the practices that can move us forward so everyone can enjoy the national forest since it has a multiple use mandate and is a resource for the public, and the public is pretty diverse," Atwill was quoted.

Scott Oneto, the director and farm advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, said the scientists are still looking for input on how to build a comprehensive study.

The California Farm Bureau Federation's weekly publication AgAlert
also weighed in on the new study. The paper said the scientists held a briefing for ranchers in Sonora where they explained their desire to acquire data to demonstrate the relationship between grazing on public lands and water quality requirements.

The article - written by AgAlert editor Kate Campbell - noted that the scientists will take multiple water samples from 48 different sites in the High Sierra over the next several months, with preliminary results available by the end of this year. Sites will include areas used for grazing and recreation.

Researchers respond to Sac Bee Sierra grazing story

UC Davis Cooperative Extension researchers Ken Tate and Rob Atwill responded to a story about High Sierra grazing published last month in the Sacramento Bee in the California Farm Bureau Federation's newspaper AgAlert.

The Sacramento Bee story suggested that cattle grazing in high-elevation areas of the Sierra Nevada causes water contamination. Following is an opening excerpt of Atwill and Tate's commentary. See the AgAlert link for the complete 600-word response:

"Our shared challenge is to continue to identify and enact grazing practices which reduce pollution risks, enhance watershed health and sustain agricultural enterprises.

"All of our local communities are reeling from budget blows and decreasing revenues. Our local rural communities depend on livestock grazing and associated businesses for a stable economy.

"Sustainable food production and natural resources are crucial to our state, country and world. We all depend upon healthy watersheds."

Ken Tate, left, and Rob Atwill.

Forest Service works with UC to ensure water quality

U.S. Forest Service regional forester Randy Moore said the agency and its collaborators take the quality of high Sierra water seriously, according to an op-ed article that ran in the Sacramento Bee over the weekend.

The op-ed came after a May 1 Sac Bee editorial encouraging the Forest Service to limit grazing to lower elevations.

Moore wrote that the Forest Service is working with the State Water Resources Control Board to develop a water quality management plan for California national forests. The plan will establish best-management practices for controlling non-point source pollution like that produced by grazing cattle.

To develop the practices, Moore said the agencies are looking at a large body of peer-reviewed literature examining the relationship between livestock and water quality. The studies were conducted by respected environmental researchers, he wrote, specifically naming UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialists Ken Tate and Rob Atwill.

UC Davis researchers have offered to work with the Forest Service to design monitoring and research that is scientifically credible and provides information that will ensure the safety and quality of watersheds, the op-ed says.

A lake in the high Sierra. (Photo: Mike Poe.)

High Sierra not the place for cattle, scientists say

A UC Davis emergency room doctor and the director of the UC Davis Tahoe Research Center have launched a publicity campaign calling for cattle grazing to be suspended in the high Sierra, according to a story in Sunday's Sacramento Bee.

The article, billed as a "Bee exclusive" and written by Tom Knudson, said the doctor, an avid backpacker, took hundreds of water samples from pristine streams and lakes in the Sierras. He found that high-elevation water bodies on land managed by the Forest Service had bacterial contamination high enough to sicken hikers with Giardia, E. coli and other diseases. However, at high elevations in Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, where cattle do not graze, the lakes and streams were pollution-free.

Doctor Robert Derlet and Tahoe Research Center director Charles Goldman believe cattle should be moved to lower elevations and that high Sierra areas now managed by the Forest Service should be converted into national parks.

"At one time, cattle were important for developing civilization here," Derlet was quoted in the story. "But now, with 40 million people in California, the Sierra is not for cattle. It's for water. We need water more than Big Macs."

The story also quoted Anne Yose, the regional rangeland program manager for the Forest Service. She said Forest Service studies show that "we can still successfully manage livestock and maintain water quality."

However, she also acknowledged in the story that it is "logistically really, really difficult" for the Forest Service to sample backcountry water.

The article said Derlet devised an insulating nylon kit and procedure for keeping water samples fresh, which includes rushing back to his car, icing the samples in a cooler and driving directly to a UC Davis lab.

Cattle grazing on low lands.

Slow Food group to air Sierra Valley video

The Lake Tahoe chapter of Slow Food will present the short video "Is Sustainable Attainable?" at its January meeting next week. The show is another opportunity to spread the word about a series of videos promoting the rural culture in Sierra Valley, Calif., produced as part of the UC Davis "Art of Regional Change."

The project, called "Passion for the Land: Personal Stories from the Sierra Valley," is a collection of 12 stories, told on video through narration and photos, about the challenges to agricultural viability and rural community life in Sierra Valley, according to an article in the Sierra Sun. The series was a collaborative project involving Jesikah Maria Ross of Art of Regional Change, Holly George of UC Cooperative Extension in Plumas and Sierra counties and Sierra Valley farmers and ranchers.

The "Sustainable" segment is the story of Gary Romano, who in 1990 purchased a 65-acre portion of his families' former 3,600-acre cattle ranch in Sierra Valley to establish an organic farm.

"I want people to understand that you don't need 5,000 acres to make a living; there is a need for farmers with 5, 10 or 60 acres," Romano was quoted in the story. "And just because the land isn't being used for farming now doesn't mean it can't be in the future. We need to preserve open space."

Gary Romano and his family on the Sierra Valley farm.

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