Livestock grazing and recreational pursuits are often concurrent on California rangelands, but on rare occasions conflicts between recreationists and livestock or graziers arise. I am conducting a comprehensive Literature Review (Part One) regarding issues surrounding simultaneous livestock grazing and recreation on public lands. To investigate region-specific issues regarding livestock-recreation issues on coastal California public lands, I am also conducting interviews and surveys of land managers and graziers operating on public and private lands on the California coast and coastal mountain ranges (Part Two). I expect to submit these two papers (Literature Review and Interview/Survey Results) to peer-reviewed journals, and will give presentations at two upcoming workshops:
- Keeping Cattle at Home on the Range: a Central Coast Rangeland Coalition rancher-stakeholder workshop in Santa Clara, 10 AM – 12 PM, September 29, 2015 – registration says it is closed, but it has actually been extended, so contact me if you are interested: Keeping Cattle And People At Home On The Range: Positive Livestock And Recreation Interactions
- Santa Clara County Parks Workshop for parks users: Santa Clara County Parks 10-17-2015 Flyer
Funders for this endeavor include Elkhorn Slough and the Central Coast Rangeland Coalition, and collaborators include Sheila Barry (UCANR: Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor) and Roger Baldwin (UCANR: Human-Wildlife Conflict Resolution).