History of Sierra Agriculture

History of Farming, Ranching and Timber Agriculture in the Sierra Nevada developed as an economic sector largely in response to other activities in the region, starting with the gold and silver mining era from 1848 to 1860, followed by commercial timber harvesting beginning in the early 1900s and periodic residential and recreational booms of the late 1800s, mid-1900s, and now the 2000s.

Agriculture in the Sierra Nevada did not begin with European settlement. For thousands of years, native Californians protected, tended, and harvested plant and animal products and practiced an array of horticultural techniques resulting in the complex and heavily managed landscape European settlers first encountered. As M. Kat Anderson (2005) writes in Tending the Wild, "They maintained, enhanced, and in part created a fertility that was eventually to be exploited by European and Asian farmers, ranchers, and entrepreneurs, who imagined themselves to have built civilization out of an un-peopled wilderness." The dynamic agricultural practices of native Californians certainly warrant more attention and respect than it receives in this report. However, this report focuses on the state and history of European agriculture in the Sierra and what can be done to protect the agricultural way of life in the face of growing development pressure and industrialization.

European agriculture in the Sierra Nevada has developed largely in response to other activities in the region, starting with the gold and silver mining era, followed by timber harvesting and the residential and recreational boom. Modern farming in the Sierra began when settlers cleared timber and brush to plant barley, wheat, oats and hay for the horses and other livestock that transported materials, equipment, and passengers to the mines. Irrigation became a reality by utilizing water from the mining ditches; peach and apple orchards were planted and vegetables were grown. By 1860, El Dorado County grew more orchard produce than any other county in California, and the Sierra region as a whole produced roughly one-third of the state's orchard fruit and so-called "truck farm" crops (Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project).

The livestock industry also established itself during the mining era with some dairy production (mostly butter) and substantial meat production centered in El Dorado County and other areas in the northwest region. It was also during this time period, that drought and lack of water in the summer months prompted ranchers to start the practice of moving their cattle (and sheep on the east side of the Sierra) up to higher-elevation meadows for better forage in the summer and back down to the foothills for the winter months.

Timber harvesting also got its start in the mining era. At first, trees and brush were cut to make room for farming. Then timber harvesting took on a life of its own, supplying fuel for the locomotives and strong timbers to support the underground hard rock mining works.

As the gold frenzy waned around 1860, the people who had come just for the gold left the area. Farming, ranching and timber harvesting, however, had taken root. Agriculturalists simply turned their attention toward supplying the silver mines in Nevada and the growing number of people moving into the area as a result of access to inexpensive land through the Homestead Act of 1862, the Lode Law of 1866 (updated as the General Mining Law in 1872) and other low-cost land programs designed to encourage settlement of the region.