Ranching History and Trends

The practice of grazing livestock in the Sierra Nevada began in the 1850s and 60s after the major gold rush frenzy had died down and settlers started setting up farms and ranches to provide food for the growing number of communities in the Sierra. By its very nature, livestock grazing requires large amounts of land - especially in semi-arid areas like the Sierra. Typically the property, or "home ranch”, owned by an individual rancher is just a small part of the total area needed to raise the cattle. As a result, many ranchers lease additional land from the federal government or from other private landowners. Because of location and grazing needs, most Sierra ranchers lease grazing rights from the U.S. Forest Service, while their peers in the Central Valley work primarily with the Bureau of Land Management. When the U.S. Forest Service was established in the early 1900s, much of the higher elevation land used by Sierra homesteaders and foothill ranchers for summer pasture was explicitly designated as federal land. Thus cementing the close and sometimes contentious relationship existing today between ranchers and public land managers in the Sierra. The relationship can be contentious because ranchers have little or no control over restrictions and regulations the government may enact on federal land for grazing.

To use in moderation or to preserve as something allegedly pristine - those are the essential poles of the debate [about public land use and management]. Understanding ranching in the light of these two perspectives is helpful…. Ranchers generally regard themselves as land stewards producing a useful product from marginal land. Others may take a less charitable view of ranchers' activities. When ranchers answer criticism of their land-use practices by declaiming against the naiveté and self-serving posture of a generally white, upper-middle-class group of environmental elitists, they are often closer to the truth than many environmentalists would like to admit. Yet bad range management also occurs when ranchers misunderstand the value of ecological approaches to sustaining a range. "Let the Cowboy Ride" Paul F. Starrs

In the Sierra Nevada Grazing in Transition: The Role of Forest Service Grazing in the Foothill Ranches of California report, ranchers cite a number of reasons for grazing on Forest Service land, including:

• Green forage during the summer when lower-elevation private pastures have dried up and lost their nutritional value for cattle;

• Good value compared to leasing irrigated pasture or dryland range from other private landowners;

• Alternatives are hard to find;

• A valuable part of their history and culture (almost three-quarters of the 23 ranchers interviewed who had US Forest Service grazing allotments said their families had begun ranching in the area before 1900).

With the advent of the “forest reserve” system in 1891, which later became the USDA Forest Service, ranchers needed federal government permits in order to continue grazing on what had been unreserved public domain land. Federal land managers like the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management started issuing permits, known as allotments, allowing ranchers to move a certain number of livestock to a specific location at a specific time of year. Allotments can specify the system of grazing to be used and outline other restrictions or regimes. Permits are renewed annually, so specifics such as numbers, timing and duration can change as deemed necessary to protect resource values or meet other land management demands identified by the Forest Service or BLM range managers.

Such permits were required, in part, to “apply an umbrella of agency statutory regulation over certain public lands” as a way of protecting forests and upland watersheds from overgrazing. The poor condition of the West’s public domain lands, including grazing land, was chronicled in a 1936 report, The Western Range, submitted to Congress by the Secretary of Agriculture. The report identified historic grazing practices, traditional land use patterns and government inaction for the notable decline.

After additional grazing regulations resulting from the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 and other legislation, conditions on both public and private lands improved. Beginning in the 1950s, ranchers started adjusting stocking rates, which is a determination of how many animals their parcel of land can support. They also began implementing other tools, such as water development, brush control, and post-grazing reseeding, to improve rangeland conditions. Increasing concern for environmental impacts of grazing in the 1970s lead to more sensitive management practices and use of indicators, such as water table levels, presence/absence of invasive plant species, amount of different types of forage at different times of the year, and amount of bare soil to monitor rangeland health.

Changes in technology have played a role in the history of cattle operations in the Sierra. In 1940, for public health reasons, the USDA began requiring all milk be homogenized or processed within 48 hours. In intermountain valleys of the Sierra Nevada, such as Sierra Valley, dairy production had been popular because dairies didn't require large land base. However, unable to adapt to these strict new USDA regulations, many of these dairies went out of business.

Meat inspection regulations had the same impact. Consumers used to be able to buy meat or dairy directly from farmers, but food safety regulations changed the relationship between producers and consumers. There were fewer opportunities for individual dairy and meat operations to market directly to consumers. Smaller acreage operations couldn't adapt to the changing marketplace and went out of business, thus the regulatory environment drove and favored consolidation of dairy and meat operations.

Today's grazing industry in California, and in the Sierra, is experiencing pressures and effects similar to the timber industry. In our rapidly growing state and region, public and private rangeland is increasingly valued for non-grazing benefits, such as open space, wildlife habitat, water resources and residential development. As with the timber industry, local demand outstrips local supply. The majority of our meat comes from other states or countries, making livestock a global industry. Like timber's susceptibility to disease and pests like the Sudden Oak Death and bark beetle, livestock is also vulnerable to diseases and pests, as evidenced by foot-and-mouth or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease).

Major Issues for Ranching

Major issues facing grazing operators as identified by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Fire and Resource Assessment Program 2003 include:

• Aging livestock operators: Many operators are nearing retirement age and could soon leave the industry. A survey of cattle ranchers in the Central Sierra, for example, showed that most were in their late fifties or early sixties;

• Economic uncertainties: The cost of resources necessary for raising livestock (grazing land, supplemental feed, water, livestock acquisition, labor, transportation, veterinarian/medical, rangeland improvements) tend to increase while the prices ranchers get for their livestock are decreasing;

• Changes in management on public lands: Due to changing public values, public land managers are restricting livestock grazing in some areas by allowing fewer animals on the land, shortening grazing periods, excluding livestock from certain areas (usually riparian/wetland areas) and using other tools that make public rangeland less available to private livestock producers;

• Increasing cost of regulations: Agencies at the state and federal levels are enforcing more regulations on livestock grazing, such as those aimed at reducing sedimentation, noise, odor, and pollution from herbicides and pesticides – to achieve clean water, clean air, and other public purposes;

• Impacts of population on land values: As the population grows and residential development creeps closer to existing ranchland, land values in the area rise, which increases pressure on existing livestock operators from new residents who don’t appreciate or understand ranching and from developers ready to develop agricultural land for commercial or residential purposes.

Yet, despite the daunting issues facing the cattle ranching industry today, most ranchers surveyed for the Sierra Nevada Grazing in Transition report, indicated they did not have plans to sell their ranches. Of those with Forest Service permits for summer grazing in the high country, 91% had no plans to sell; 71% of non-permittees felt the same. And together, three out of four survey respondents believed ranching could be saved in their area.

It has been well documented that ranchers ranch for reasons other than profit. Monetary profit is not a clear-cut predictor of the survival or persistence of ranches. "Sierra Nevada Grazing in Transition" Adriana Sulak and Lynn Huntsinger

Reasons Cattle Ranchers RanchWhen asked why they ranch, most ranchers respond: "because I enjoy the ranching way of life" or "because ranching is consistent with my traditions and values," or "the ranch is a good place to raise my family." Few, if any, ranchers cite "profit" or "making money" as an important reason for why they ranch.

Extensive livestock ranching may or may not be economically salvageable. It might, and probably should, however, be approached as a problem in conservation and cultural continuity, an issue in the management of cultural resources, rather than as an economic, political, or ecological dilemma. The approaches are linked. At stake is the continuation or abolition of western ranching. If ranching leaves the American landscape, it should be the victim of a conscious policy decision, not of simple twists of fate.
"Let the Cowboy Ride" Paul F. Starrs

Land ownership has always been a "conspicuous form" or indicator of wealth - at least in most European societies. And ranchers are some of the largest landowners in the Sierra. Yet talk to any Sierra rancher today, and he or she will tell you that monetary wealth is not the reason people stay in ranching. Ranching in the Sierra is more a labor of love and tradition; some refer to it as a calling. C. Arden Pope conducted several studies of cattle ranching in Texas and concluded, "Cattle ranching is at heart not a productive but a consumptive use of land. Beef is produced, of course, but more important is what is consumed [by the rancher]: scenery, rural life, aesthetic enjoyment, pride in ranching, rugged individualism, and several other imponderables." Economists sometimes call this willingness to take a financial hit in order to do something that makes you happy an "economic irrationality”. In recreational circles, it's often referred to as the “tree tax" or the perceived economic penalty some people are willing to pay, usually in terms of lower salaries or income in order to live in a more rural environment.

Cattle have been a big part of California agriculture since the Gold Rush days, especially in Modoc, Calaveras and Amador counties (Henshall 1996)

Reasons cattle ranchers give for why they ranch

Responses to the survey indicate that ranchers value the quality and style of life and the opportunity to raise their family on a ranch far more than the incentive to make a profit from ranching.

Horse Culture

Ranches and stables for ranch horses in western foothill counties have also been prominent. So prominent in fact, that they have generated a new term, "horsiculture”.

At first, large horses like Percherons were used to work the farms. This continued as late as the 1960s in Modoc County. When using draft horses for work became economically unviable, riding and breeding became the predominant activities. As of 1992, the counties in the SOSA project area held 14% of the state's horse farms. Today, horse-based tourism is on the rise in the Sierra Nevada. Children's horseback rides through forest trails, summer pack trips, and myriad shows and festivals take place throughout the Sierra.

The Sierra has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in draft horses. Fairs based around showing draft horses, which people breed for seasonal competitions, are becoming increasingly common. Nevada County, for example, hosts an annual Draft Horse Classic, drawing over 20,000 equine enthusiasts from across the West. The California Draft Horse and Mule Association formed in 1998 to promote draft horses and mules in California and disseminate information about shows and other events. The Midwest Leather Company based in Beckwourth, California manufacturers and sells harnesses, saddles and horse-drawn equipment.

As people begin to create their second homes and mountain getaways, the desire for land zoned for horses increases. Horse owners can take advantage of programs, such as the Williamson Act designed to preserve agricultural and open space lands by discouraging premature and unnecessary conversion to urban uses. Ranchettes, horse properties and equestrian estates qualify for the property tax reductions of the Williamson Act, thereby effectively competing with working farms and ranches.