Santa Clara County Parks invited the public to a free educational workshop (and free lunch hosted by the tenant cattlemen!) on Saturday, Oct. 17th, to learn about how to interact safely and share public lands with livestock, and cattle in particular.

Interacting with Cattle in Santa Clara County Parks

Cattle are grazed on many Santa Clara County (SCC) Parks as a cost-effective, targeted tool to manage vegetation for a variety of environmental benefits, including wildfire risk reduction, invasive plant species management, and wildlife habitat management. However, many recreationists are unsure of how to navigate areas with livestock, or are concerned about safely moving through areas with livestock.

This workshop brought together University of California Cooperative Extension Specialists (Livestock and Natural Resource Advisor for Santa Clara County) and colleagues, several local ranchers grazing on SCC public lands, SCC Park Rangers, and myself to help the interested public understand the reasons for grazing on public lands and how to safely navigate areas with domestic livestock.

Check out the agenda here, Agenda, 10-17-2015, for the list of speakers and topics.

Handout discussing safe interactions with livestock: Facilitating Positive Livestock-Recreation Interactions on Public Lands

Handout as large slides, with notes (download as a PDF, then click on the yellow bubble in the top left-hand corner of each slide to see notes): Handout as Individual Slides with Notes

Handout as large slides, no notes: Handout as Individual Slides

Ranchers Allen Renz, Brent Kirk, and Justin Fields provided locally-raised sausage and tri-tip sandwiches for lunch – thanks guys!