RANCHING MATTERS
Rangelands remain essential for wildlife by CCA Director of Communications Katie Roberti
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or months, Californians have been sheltering in place due to stay at home orders resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Although counties are seeing some restrictions lifted after a spring like no other, it’s safe to say summer activities this year won’t look normal for most of the Golden State’s residents. While 2020 hasn’t shaped up to be what most people were expecting, birds migrating through the state this spring have not participated in the stay at home orders. Every year regardless of what people are dealing with, society-altering pandemics included, up to a billion birds migrate north through California on the Pacific Flyway. As hundreds of wildlife species pass through the state, ranchers and the over 38 million acres of public and private rangeland they manage play an essential role in hosting the birds for their stay, as well as providing habitat for hundreds of other species throughout the year. For wildlife, agriculture is an essential service. “We raise so much more than cows, sheep and hay.” Dave Goicoechea, a farmer and rancher in Sierra Valley says. In addition to the livestock they are raising, producers see many other species on their land, a testament to the good work and stewardship being done. Well-managed ranches generate more than just income. While farmers and ranchers have to make a profit to pay the bills, Goicoechea — a retired biologist for the Bureau of Land Management’s Nevada office — believes 24 California Cattleman June 2020
most livestock producers care about wildlife, the land and so much more. “When we take care of our cattle, it’s taking care of the ground for other species,” Goicoechea says—something he has seen firsthand. Today, Goicoechea and his family enjoy experiencing the geese, ducks, sandhill cranes, deer, and even the occasional bears that pass through their property, but he says 30 years ago when his family bought the land their ranch is located on, this abundance of wildlife did not exist. It has taken dedication, hard work and a million management decisions to get the ranch to where it is today. Managing water, maintaining habitats and keeping natural resources available are just a few of the critical decisions ranchers make that influence wildlife. Similarly, Goicoechea says the preserved beauty of the Sierra Valley hasn’t just happened, “People have worked really hard for a very long time to make the valley the way it is.” Sandhill cranes have started coming more and more regularly to the Goicoechea’s ranch. Relatedly, other ranchers in the valley never thought they would see osprey, river otters, antelope or the other species on their ranches that now have a presence in the valley. While ranchers have the availability to provide habitat that attracts new species on the land they manage, protecting the wildlife that has been on the land for generations is also a goal. For Tim Koopmann in Alameda County, there are a
