Posts Tagged: Shasta
UCCE’s Post-Fire Resilience Workshops: Nurturing community growth post-wildfire
In Spring of 2022, UC ANR launched its first Post-Fire Resilience Workshop. Since 2022, the...
January in the Garden, part 1
In the Garden: Plant rhubarb, strawberries, and cane berries. Plant seeds for broccoli,...
Shasta Livestock Market - Now On Cattle Market Mobile App for IPhone and Android
In an earlier blog post this year I shared information on an app for the IPhone and Android smartphones that provided auction market information on cattle. The app was called Cattle Talk Mobile and at the time there was not any California specific information. I mentioned that I contacted the app developer, Michael Whitt, and suggested that the Shasta Livestock Auction could be added so Northern California ranchers would benefit.
Today I received an email from Michael that the Shasta Livestock information is now part of the app. He also mentioned that the name has been changed to Cattle Market Mobile. More information is available on his web site CattleMarketMobile.com. The app is also available through the ITunes app store for the IPhone and through GooglePlay for the Android.
Shasta-Smartphone-Pic
New CE Forest Advisor in Northern California
Ryan DeSantis is the new University of California Cooperative Extension Forestry and Natural Resources Advisor for Shasta, Trinity, and Siskiyou Counties. Ryan will be responsible for conducting an extension, education and research program that resolves needs and problems in the fields of forest management and ecology.
Ryan grew up in rural New Hampshire, where he fell in love with hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, skiing, mountain biking, and spending time in the woods of New Hampshire and Maine in general. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Forest Science from the University of New Hampshire and then he spent two years working with a National Park in Bulgaria as an ecological volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps. When he returned to the U.S., Ryan moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where he attended Michigan Technological University and earned his Master’s degree in Applied Ecology. Ryan’s Master’s thesis work involved the post-harvest effects of prescribed fire and mechanical treatment on jack pine forest biodiversity and fuel load. Following graduate school, Ryan worked in a fire ecology laboratory at the University of Massachusetts and on fire crews at Cape Cod National Seashore (Massachusetts) and Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming). After leaving the Tetons, Ryan went back to graduate school and earned his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in Natural Resource Ecology and Management with a concentration in forest resources. The goal of Ryan’s Ph.D. dissertation work was to advance the understanding of fire and drought as disturbance forces that determine the species composition and structure of upland oak forests in Oklahoma. Following his Ph.D., Ryan worked as a postdoctoral research associate for the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Forest Futures Project, where he determined the economic and ecological impacts of forest threats to Midwest and Northeast U.S. forests.
Ryan is excited to have the opportunity to work with oak and conifer ecosystems and fire, and to once again be surrounded by mountains and forests. He is also excited to explore the trails of rural Trinity, Siskiyou and Shasta Countie, try hunting black-tailed deer, and fishing on the Sac and Trinity Rivers for the first time.
Ryan is stationed at the University of California Cooperative Extension office in Redding but he expects to spend plenty of time working in Trinity and Siskiyou Counties. His contact information is:
Ryan DeSantis, UC Cooperative Extension
1851 Hartnell Avenue
Redding, CA 96002-2217
530-224-4900
rdesantis@ucanr.edu
Landowners share views on forest and range resources
October 10, 2011
Private owners of California’s forests and rangelands value their land mostly for its natural amenities and as a financial investment, according to a new study published in the October–December 2011 issue of the University of California’s California Agriculture journal. About 42 percent of forest and rangeland is in private ownership.
“A variety of reasons were reported for owning land,” reports lead author Shasta Ferranto, Ph.D. candidate in UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management.
“To ‘live near natural beauty’ was the objective ranked by most landowners as important. Other popular reasons included ‘appreciation in land value,’ ‘escape from city crime and pollution,’ ‘financial investment’ and ‘live in a small community.’” The research article, and the entire October–December 2011 issue, can be viewed and downloaded at http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org.
Thirty-four million acres of California’s forests and rangelands are privately owned. These lands represent 34 percent of the total land in the state and provide important ecosystem services such as pollination, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration (removal of carbon from the atmosphere and storage in carbon sinks such as forests). However, little was known about the people who own and manage the land until this recent survey by UC Cooperative Extension and UC Berkeley scientists.
Many of the more than 600 forest and rangeland owners in 10 counties who completed the 17-page survey reported they had been approached to sell their land for development. Other findings include
- Owners of large properties (500 or more acres) were more likely to carry out or be interested in environmental improvements than owners of small properties.
- Only about one-third of landowners had participated in conservation programs; few had conservation easements.
- The majority of the landowners were primary residents.
- Only one-third reported earning income from their land.
- Asked about what reasons would influence a hypothetical future decision to sell their land, almost 20 percent reported they would never sell their land. Of the remaining 80 percent, just over half chose “it is too much work to maintain,” followed by “can’t afford to keep it” and other financial concerns.
“What will happen when privately owned forests and rangelands change ownership — either through generational transfer of land or sale — is unknown,” say the researchers. “California forest and rangeland owners are 62 years old on average, with a high proportion retired, and many more nearing retirement.” The survey results establish a baseline for understanding how the owners of a significant part of the state’s ecosystem services “might change over time, or with interventions of information, policy or financial resources.”
Also reported in the October-December 2011 issue of California Agriculture:
- A wireless communications system and wetting-front advance model have eliminated tail water drainage in alfalfa irrigation.
- Tree shelters and weed control have increased the growth and survival of natural blue oak seedlings and are more cost-effective than a previous approach to regenerate blue oaks stands by planting nursery-grown saplings.
- Hedgerows of native California shrubs and perennial grasses are enhancing beneficial insects on farms in California’s Central Valley.
California Agriculture is the University of California’s peer-reviewed journal of research in agricultural, human and natural resources. For a free subscription, sign up at http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org, or write to calag@ucdavis.edu.
WRITERS/EDITORS: To request a hard copy of the journal, email crllopez@ucdavis.edu.
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