Progress 12/13/16 to 09/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The California RREA Program brought valuable and needed extension programs and materials torange and forest landowners and managers, local and state policy makers, natural resource professionals, and others interested in the viability of the state's natural and renewable resources. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in delays for starting certain planned activities and necessitated changes in Extension delivery from in-person to online. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Educational events were conducted. Conferences were held pre-pandemic. California Naturalists were certified after completing classroom, field, and volunteer training hours. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information wasdisseminated to communities of interest through a range of Extension methods including workshops, websites, and publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the past five years the California RREA program allocated federal RREA funding to 49 extension projects through a competitive grants program. These projects leveraged ongoing UC Cooperative Extension programs to address the three national RREA goals and crosscutting issue areas on whichthe California program focused.Highlighted beloware somesignificant accomplishments. Goal 1: Ensuring Healthy Ecosystems Issue Area: Invasive Species A student intern project greatly expanded the Calinvasives database from about five invasive species to a database of about 100 taxa and over 30,000 datapoints, including data of highly visible invasive species (e.g. polyphagous shot borers, goldspotted oak borer, Sudden Oak Death). Cumulatively, it is estimated that more than 1000 stakeholders were introduced to Calinvasives. As of 2021, the California Oak Mortality Task Forcedecided to use Calinvasives as their main graphic interface to showcase changes in distribution of the Sudden Oak Death Pathogen. Issue Area: Land Conversion, Fragmentation, and Parcelization Accessing land change data in the state has been very difficult. RREA funding enabled improvements to be made to the CalLands website, which makes a wealth of land-use change information available to California land planners, land managers, landowners, NGO's, and decision makers to assist them in making prudent and sustainable land-use decisions. Issue Area: Forest and Rangeland Water and Wetland Resources TheRanch Water Quality Plan Program (RWQP) curriculumhad atechnical and technological update, incorporating learning modules, lesson plans, embedded videos, and worksheets into a packaged, interactive, digital document and online guide. The RWQP is a critical educational element for California's rangeland managers, which includes cutting edge research, local and site-specific conditions, and modifications in water quality regulations including Grazing Land Conditional Waivers to Waste Discharge Requirements. Issue Area: Climate Variability Following a UC ANR system-wide needs assessment survey in 2017, academics and staff across disciplinary fields, including water, nutrition, agriculture, forestry, rangelands, and fire were convened for a 2-day workshop with the objectives to improve climate literacy, strengthen relationships among personnel working on climate change issues, and identify climate change extension priorities. The overall goal to build a community of practice was accomplished, which serves to UC ANR's improve climate science communication. Goal 2: Enhancing Economic Benefits Issue Area: Ecosystem Services Youth education was conducted to increase understanding about production, sustainability, and the links between ecosystem services and social well-being. The Sustainable You! summer camp was STEM-focused and served youth in communities with high rates of children living below the federal poverty level. A month after the camp, participants reported still encouraging sustainable behaviors in their homes. During the pandemic, the new Virtual Range Camp and high-school Range Management curriculumwere developed and are exceeding reach expectations, potentially to over 4,000 students; the exact numbers will be determined at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. The outcomes from this new curriculum will be evaluated through surveys with teachers in May 2022. Goal 3: Enhancing Resource Management on Working Forests and Rangelands Issue Area: Rangeland Stewardship and Health Over the past five years there have been many projects in this issue area; several examples follow to illustrate the breadth. Efforts to improve livestock-predator conflict management resulted in a series of workshops, an online publication Livestock Protection Tools for California Ranchers, and a policy brief. The workshop evaluations indicated attendees increased knowledge regarding best management practices for predator control, particularly for the recently returned California wolves onrangelands.Another project provided outreach and education on the natural resource and economic impacts of wild horses. One project focused on sustaining working rangelands by promoting effective grazing leases on private and public rangelands. Workshop participants reported a better understanding of grazing leases and grazing plans and how to develop an effective monitoring program for land management agreements. Issue Area: Forest Stewardship and Health RREA funded efforts built capacity for prescribed fire on private lands through the development of written and digital publications,workshops, and live-fire trainings. In addition, theCalifornia Oak Woodland Management website, a valued tool since its creation in 1995, was improved. It is a repository of over 30-years of research and outreach concerning the ecology, management, and conservation of the state's 8 million acres of oak woodlands. Training on geographic information systems (GIS) was also provided and resulted in 100% of participants reporting increased knowledge of the benefits and opportunities of planning for their natural lands/resources using GIS. The 25 participants who have drones planned to implement a new forest stewardship plan using GIS.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The California RREA Program provides education and science-based information to extend new knowledge on the management and preservation of California's natrual resources to private landowners, professional land managers, educators, and natural resource professionals and volunteeers. Changes/Problems:Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing public health orders restricting on-site work and in-person gatherings only four of the funded projects were completed; the remaining seven have been extended a year to allow time for adaptation of documents and delivery from in-person to web-based. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Ten educational events; seven were webinars. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Funded projects resulted in relevant, science-based information being developed and extended to the communities of interest through virtual live webinars that were recorded and posted as asynchronous educational videos, and websites were used to provide up to date information. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue administrating the competitive grant program to enable collaboration and improved program delivery to effectively address the multi-use management issues that occur on diverse private lands in California. The program will also continue to seek solutions to complex issues and be responsive to the needs of resource managers and users.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The UC ANR RREA competitive project and student intern grants program continued in FY 2020 and funded 11 projects. These projects were the first funded by the program under the guidelines in the national 2016-2022 RREA Strategic Plan and the UC ANR Logic Model for the Renewable Resource Extension Act, available here https://ucanr.edu/sites/rrea/files/320102.pdf. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing public health orders restricting on-site work and in-person gatherings only four of the funded projects were completed; the remaining seven have been extended a year to allow time for adaptation of documents and delivery from in-person to web-based. The FY 2020 funded projects focused on five RREA critical issues and are detailed below. RREA Critical Issue: Ecosystem Services UC RREA project Technical and Technological Updates for the UC Ranch Water Quality Plan Program completed a technical and technological update of the curriculum for the Ranch Water Quality Plan Program (RWQP). The RWQP is a critical educational element for California's Rangeland Managers and includes cutting edge research, local and site-specific conditions, modifications in water quality regulations including Grazing Land Conditional Waivers to Waste Discharge Requirements, growth of technical and financial assistance programs. This is a combined partnership of UC Cooperative Extension Advisors, Specialists, and Faculty, resource agency staff, private and public rangeland managers, and organizations such as the California Cattlemen's Association. The update consisted of incorporating learning modules, lesson plans, embedded videos, and worksheets into a packaged, interactive digital document and online guide. One Zoom meeting with 13 stakeholders was held to obtain input on the RWQP update and 100% agreed that the users of the updated RWQP would gain awareness and knowledge about the effects of management practices on rangelands. Please see, http://rangelands.ucdavis.edu/ranchwaterqualityplanning/. RREA Critical Issue: Invasive Species UC RREA project Populating the CalInvasives Content Management System was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting public health orders and has been extended a year. RREA Critical Issue: Public Awareness and Youth Engagement UC RREA project Building Capacity and Expanding the Reach of UC ANR through Collaboration with the California Conservation Corps established a formal relationship between the UC California Naturalist Program (UC CalNat) and the California Conservation Corps (CCC), the country's oldest and largest conservation-oriented workforce development program. The project designed, developed, and delivered a UC CalNat course tailored to the needs of the CCC: 43% members join without a high school diploma and 94% are categorized as being from underserved and low-income households. Due to conditions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic the size of the group was reduced, yet 17 CCC members successfully completed the California Naturalist course and requirements for certification. They were provided with a critical missing link and deeper understanding of the science and research that unpins their conservation work projects that serve landowners and land managers. The 17 course participants produced public-outreach videos on natural resources as their CCC capstone project. The project's success led to UC CalNat and CCC partners submitting a collaborative proposal to the Youth Community Access funding opportunity of the California Natural Resources Agency, to expand the CCC-California Naturalist certification program to CCC members statewide. UC RREA project Environmental Benefits of Livestock Grazing provided two and a half months of salary for a Cal State University Chico student to work in UC ANRs Modoc County Cooperative Extension office to quantify past research on the environmental benefits of livestock grazing and create science-based information (e.g., graphics, social media posts, posters, and additional outreach material). This was done to provide UCCE advisors, land managers, and the public easy access to clearly defined research and information about the carbon footprint and ecological impact of livestock grazing. At one in-person event the student-created material was distributed and 84 participants at the Modoc County Junior Livestock Show in June 2020 were educated on the value of healthy rangelands. The student also created a new webpage, https://www.devilsgardenucce.org/resources, which currently has over 1,000 views. The website has links to relevant research on rangelands organized by relevant topics: ecosystem services, climate change impact, mitigation and adaptation strategies, and conservation and land use. Additionally the student prepared and posted blogs on the ecological benefits of rangelands and grazing that currently has had 1,264 views and is available here, https://www.devilsgardenucce.org/blog. UC RREA projects Range and Natural Resources Education and Baker Forest Management Interpretive Trail were not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting public health orders and has been extended a year. RREA Critical Issue: Rural Communities UC RREA project Preparing Ranchers for the Next Drought: Lessons from California's 1000-year Drought focused on educating rangeland ranchers and managers using research and peer-to-peer networking on drought and climate adaption topics. After COVID-19 public health orders that limited in-person meetings, the team quickly shifted creating a bi-weekly webinar series. The project created seven 60-minute webinars and a YouTube channel, Working Rangelands Wednesdays (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQnxWe9UGmy_-aHg06YZZkw). The live webinar participation and the subsequent asynchronous YouTube views as of 9/30/2020 follow: Experience Matters: On-the -Ground Perspectives on Drought had 38 participants and 160 views; Managing Drought on Private Ranches had 72 participants and 176 views; Water Quality on Pasture and Rangelands had 198 participants and 211 views; Can you Ensure Against Drought? had 78 participants and 74 views; Coping with Drought on Public Rangelands: A Rancher Panel Discussion had 107 participants and 195 views; Managing Drought on Targeted Grazing Landscapes had 54 participants and 85 views; and Grazing for Fire Prevention had 151 participants and 216 views. Surveys of the webinar participants showed an average of 90% agreed with the statement "I gained new knowledge applicable to my work as a result of this webinar." UC RREA project Cannabis in Your County was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting public health orders and has been extended a year. RREA Critical Issue: Wildfire Prevention and Management UC RREA project Hazardous Fuel Reduction: Outreach & Education was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting public health orders and has been extended a year.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
https://www.devilsgardenucce.org/resources
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
http://rangelands.ucdavis.edu/ranchwaterqualityplanning/
|
Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The California RREA Program provides education and materials to educate and extend new knowledge on the management and preservation of California's natural resources to private landowners, professional land managers, educators, natural resource professionals, and natural resource volunteers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Educational events: Invasive Weeds Workshop educated 40 ranchers and land managers about IPM, pesticide safety, and regulatory compliance; 12 live-fire trainings were provided to 360 ranchers, volunteer fire fighters, land managers, and other community members; curriculum was developed and 118 land owners, managers and extension academics were trained at four workshops to reinforce and improve technical knowledge of spatial cartographic planning with the natural resources community; and six workshops educated 129 ranchers, managers, and other community members on the use of non-lethal livestock protection tools and provided demonstrations of a variety of available non-lethal livestock protection tools. Conferences: Climate Change in California Extension, attended by 71 UC ANR extension academics and programmatic staff, was held to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and identify priorities for engaging with climate change in extension statewide programs and working groups. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Funded projects resulted in relevant information being developed and presented to the communities of interest through workshops, websites, apps, and publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We developed a logic model for the UC ANR California RREA Program. The purpose of the logic model is to guide UC RREA grant applicants and the UC RREA Technical Advisory Committee in identifying projects that best achieve goals set forth in the 2018-2022 RREA Strategic Plan and that help UC ANR achieve our desired condition changes and public values relative to the Division's vision for sustainable natural ecosystems. California's RREA program will continue to competitively award internal grants to enable collaboration and improved program delivery to effectively address the multi-use management issues that occur on diverse private lands in California. The program will also continue to seek solutions to complex issues and be responsive to the needs of resource managers and users.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The UC ANR RREA competitive project and student intern grants program continued in FY 2019 and funded seven projects focusing on two of the national RREA Strategic Goals and six Issue Areas. The outcomes of the FY 2019 projects funded by the UC ANR RREA grant program are detailed below. RREA Goal 1: Ensuring Healthy Ecosystems Issue: Climate Variability UC RREA project Integrating Climate Change in California Cooperative Extension Programs Workshop and Professional Development delivered a professional development workshop on integrating climate change science into extension programming. The workshop was attended by 71 UC ANR academics and staff from across disciplinary fields, including water, nutrition, forestry, rangelands, agriculture, youth development, and fire. Post-workshop surveys indicated 95% of workshop participants had increased knowledge of climate variability; 97% agreed the talks on integrating climate change into extension programs was informative and comprehensive; 94% indicated the workshop had increased their awareness about climate variability and its effect on California communities. Participants expressed strong support and enthusiasm for additional professional development opportunities, particularly related to climate science information tool kits that support climate science communication and developing skills in communicating climate-related science to diverse or resistant audiences, which will be topics for the proposed 2020 workshop. A short article on the workshop is available here: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=29266. Issue: Invasive Species UC RREA project Invasive Weed Management and Regulatory Requirements: Outreach and Education promoted effective invasive weeds management tools and provided scientifically proven control practices that maximize cost effectiveness while conserving diversity, promoting safety, and ensuring regulatory compliance. The team developed visually appealing technical guides and hosted an invasive weeds educational booth at the Plumas-Sierra County Fair. They conducted a workshop attended by 40 ranchers, land managers, and agency staff who listened to experts address IPM invasive weed management, pesticide safety, and regulatory compliance. 100% of the workshop participants indicated they gained new knowledge about invasive weeds, and 90% planned to adopt one or more of the management practices they had learned during the workshop. They also did site visits to 12 ranches to assist the ranchers with identifying the invasive weeds on their property and provide management recommendations. Issue: Land Conversation, Fragmentation, and Parcellation UC RREA project Cannabis Research Center (CRC) Outreach and Extension Programming worked to identify ways in which cannabis production and healthy forest ecosystems can co-exist. The immediate objective was to develop information to help natural resource managers better understand cannabis production practices in California and the environmental impacts on private lands, especially in forest ecosystems. A UC Berkeley student intern updated and improved the CRC website and planned the first annual CRC Research Briefing. The workshop was attended by 100 academics, regulators, policy makers, land managers, and industry professionals. The post-workshop survey showed that 100% of those who attended reported increased awareness of the options available to minimize land-use conversion of forest and rangelands. RREA Goal 3: Enhancing Resource Management on Working Forests and Rangelands Issue: Forest Stewardship and Health UC RREA project Training and Applications of Geospatial (GIS) Technology for Improved Natural Resource Management increased forest and natural resource practitioner competence with GIS tools, for real world applications to improve natural resource management. The target audience included private landowners and managers, academics, and other natural resource professionals. The project developed five curriculum guides, and presented four 2-day workshop trainings with 118 attendees and 85 waitlist registrations. The workshops also encouraged collaboration between federal and state agencies and academic institutions to standardize data sharing tools in natural resource planning. Through post-workshop surveys, 100% of participants reported increased knowledge of the benefits and opportunities of planning for their natural lands/resources using GIS technologies and applications. In addition, 25 participants, who have drones, plan to implement a new forest stewardship plan using GIS technology and applications. Issue: Rangeland Stewardship and Health UC RREA project Building Capacity for Prescribed Fire on Private Lands catalyzed major interest and change in California about the way people think about prescribed fire on the state's private natural lands. Many decades of fire suppression effectively took fire out of California's private landowners' toolbox. By providing live fire training and education to private landowners and managers, this project empowered hundreds to reconnect with fire as a management tool. In the past year, the team hosted 28 workshops with over 400 participants; 12 live-fire trainings with 300 attendees, including private landowners and managers, agency personnel, firefighters from rural California, and other interested community members; and 35 delivered presentations. The work supported by RREA over the past few years has increased awareness and changed the conversation about prescribed fire, both within UC ANR and across California. Prescribed fire is now seen as a realistic tool in the private lands fire management toolbox and is being viewed throughout California as a positive, achievable pathway towards more resilient, productive landscapes. UC RREA project Ranching 101 Training/Video for Land Managers, Resource Management Professionals and Cal-Naturalist developed information and conducted outreach and training to inform public agencies and resource management professionals on rangeland livestock production cycles, practices, and costs. Rangelands throughout California are increasingly owned and managed by public agencies, such as cities, counties, park districts, water districts, as well as non-profits such as land trusts. Often, they lack understanding of ranch grazing and production needs which leads to conflict. The project hosted a workshop which 82 land managers, resource management professionals, and ranchers attended. A post workshop survey indicated 55% of those who attended increased their knowledge of the benefits and opportunities of working rangeland practices, and 80% will use the new knowledge in their decision-making to improve rangeland sustainability on the almost 25,000 acres they manage. UC RREA project Protecting your Livestock from Predators: Livestock Protection Tools Field Days provided education on the use of non-lethal livestock protection tools and provided hands-on demonstration of a variety of available tools for end-users including ranchers, land managers and wildlife managers. Gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Extension advisors have received numerous requests for information about non-lethal methods for control. In response, the team hosted six workshop field days, in five different Northern California counties with established gray wolf packs and/or transient wolves, with 129 ranchers, managers, and others attending. A post-workshop survey indicated 100% of the participants agreed they increased knowledge on the benefit of including non-lethal livestock protection tools in their management plans. An additional workshop was held for agency and NGO staff which had a rancher panel on livestock-predator conflict. The 24 attendees engaged in facilitated discussions on improving communication and cooperation between agencies and ranchers.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Berkeley Cannabis Research Center https://crc.berkeley.edu/
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
D. Macon, R. Baldwin, D. Lile, (2018) Livestock Protection Tools for California Ranchers, UC ANR 8000 Series Publications, No. 8958
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8598.pdf
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Davy, J., L. Quinn-Davidson, and J. Stackhouse. 2019. Medusahead control using prescribed fire across disparate precipitation patterns. Grasslands. Summer: 29:3:5-8.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Quinn-Davidson, L. and J. Stackhouse. 2019. Burning by the day: Why cost/acre is not a good metric for prescribed fire. Grasslands. Summer: 29:3:16-19.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Quinn-Davidson, L. and J. Stackhouse. 2019. Field Report: Building a burn trailer to support your communitys prescribed fire efforts. Grasslands. Summer: 29:3:20-22.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Stackhouse, J. and L. Quinn-Davidson. 2019. Options for prescribed fire on private lands in California. Grasslands. Spring: 29:2:12-15.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
W.D. Tietje, W.L.Preston, A.Y. Polyakov (2019) Natural History of the Central Coast Bioregion, UC ANR 8000 Series Publications, No. 8597
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8597.pdf
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Schohr, T., R. Tompkins, T. Getts, K. Wilkin, and J. Wiley. 2019. Invasive Weed Management Post-Wildfire: Closer Look at Camp Fire Invasive Weeds in Right-of-ways. Grasslands 29(3):10-14.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The University of California RREA Program provides education and materials to educate and extend new knowledge on the management and preservation of California's natural resources to private landowners, professional land managers, educators, natural resource professionals, and natural resource volunteers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Educational events: 32 Conferences: 1 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Funded projects resulted in relevant information being developed and presented to the communities of interest through workshops, websites, apps, and publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The University of California's RREA program will continue competitively to award internal grants to enable collaboration and improved program delivery to effectively address the multi-use management issues that occur on diverse private lands in California. The program will also continue to seek solutions to complex issues and be responsive to the needs of resource managers and users. Over the next year, the UC RREA program will develop a logic model informed by the new national RREA strategic plan, and will use the intended outcomes as the driver for the next Request for Proposals.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
RREA Goal 1: Ensuring Healthy Ecosystems; Issue: Climate Variability UC RREA project Integrating Climate Change in California Extension developed and led a professional development workshop for 56 UC ANR academics and staff from across disciplinary fields, including water, nutrition, agriculture, forestry, rangelands, and fire. The objectives were to improve climate literacy, strengthen relationships among personnel working on climate change issues, and identify climate change priorities for specific California Extension programs and UC ANR as a whole. The workshop was a successful step in building a community of practice around climate change extension. 75% of participants agreed that they have a better idea of how to integrate climate change into their programs as a result of the workshop. The complete workshop report is available here, https://ucanr.edu/CalClimateChage/files/280925.pdf, and the project's success story is located here: https://ucanr.edu/delivers/?impact=1076&a=0. Issue: Land Conversion, Fragmentation, and Parcelization UC RREA project California Land Use and Ownership Portal continued development of the website CalLands to provide stakeholders easy access to needed land-use change in California. Land-use change is a leading cause of biodiversity decline, habitat loss, and ecosystem degradation in California, yet accessing land change data in the state has been very difficult. This website makes a wealth of land-use change information available to California land planners, land managers, landowners, NGO's, and decision makers to assist them in making prudent and sustainable land-use decisions. The project team combined several datasets to provide insights to both current and past levels of land parcelization for the entire state. The project team led two workshops attended by 40 participants to demonstrate and get feedback on the website. RREA Goal 2: Enhancing Economic Benefits; Issue: Ecosystem Services UC RREA project Sustainable You Summer Camp provided partial support of a student intern to put together the Summer 2018 Sustainable You summer camp. The weeklong camp served 9-12-year olds who live within communities with high rates of children living below the federal poverty level. The high quality, STEM-focused camp concentrated on sustainability of natural resources. The participants have access to real scientists, explore natural lands, and participate in fun, interactiveprojects. One month after the camp, 87% of the 18 campers were still encouraging sustainable behaviors in their homes - including: conserving water, reducing waste, recycling and composting, looking for reduced packaging on goods, being aware of wildlife, eating local produce, accessing more parks and open spaces, decreasing energy usage, and walk or cycling for short journeys. RREA Goal 3: Enhancing Resource Management on Working Forests and Rangelands; Issue: Rangeland Stewardship and Health UC RREA project Grazing Leases that Work for Rangeland Stewardship and Conservation focused on sustaining working rangelands by promoting effective grazing leases on private and public rangelands. The target audience was rangeland managers, owners, and prospective rangeland lessors The project developed several written products, and a searchable database of lease language examples. Information on leasing and managing rangelands was extended through two workshops attended by 116 ranchers, landowners, and others. The first workshop on effective rangeland leases was attended by 21 ranchers and landowners, who overwhelmingly reported gaining a better understanding of grazing leases and grazing plans, including how to complete grazing lease proposals and how to support a grazing management plan. The second workshop on rangeland land management arrangements was attended by 95 ranchers, landowners, and consultants, the majority of whom reported that they gained a better understanding of how to develop an effective monitoring program for land management agreements. UC RREA project Building Capacity for Prescribed Fire on Private Lands allowed for the expansion of prescribed fire programming. This year's work has been groundbreaking, providing unprecedented training opportunities for private landowners and volunteer fire departments, conservation-focused NGO's, and UCCE Advisors. The project included live-fire trainings in addition to classroom instruction. The first prescribed burn association in the Pacific West was formed. One PI participated in a brainstorming session with a state senator to represent the increasing need for prescribed fire on private lands. Several key pieces of legislation passed in September 2018 promise to further alleviate challenges to prescribed fire on private lands (including Senate Bill 1260, Senate Bill 901, and Assembly Bill 2091). Thisprovided quality training and education, and also focused on empowering landowners and others to reconnect with fire as a natural process and management tool, catalyzing changes throughout the West. UC RREA project Certified Rangeland Management Training: Extension and Education Program supported two workshops on rangeland management with 65 participants, including livestock producers, land managers, ranchers, and others. The workshop gave attendees the tools to support sustainable livestock enterprises on California rangelands, and provided a venue for the participants to learn from experienced livestock producers, scientific experts, and Certified Rangeland Managers. Participants in the first workshop learned about paddock design, fencing systems and stock water systems, and developed a forage budget and grazing plan for the cattle operations at the UC Sierra Foothills Research and Extension Center. As a result of the second workshop, 100% of survey respondents improved awareness, learned new skill, and gained new knowledge on rangeland management, and 100% of producer attendees reported in the next year they are likely to adopt one or more of the practices described. Attendees estimated they will share knowledge from workshop with over 4,000 others within the next year. UC RREA student intern project Natural Resource and Economic Impacts of Wild Horses in Northeastern California worked over the summer to provide outreach and education on wild horses and their effect on the local ecosystem. The student-led activities included a clean-up and education day; booths at farmer markets and fairs; facilitation of a local stakeholder group that meets monthly; and development of several venue-specific educational programs, including a parent-child interaction game about wild horses and their effect. The student also created and posted on a blog to educate locals about wild horses with over 3,300 hits and growing. UC RREA project Rangeland Management Course for Ranchers designed materials and developed a comprehensive management course to be held in April 2019. It will provide ecological information and develop practical skills for people who directly manage working rangelands. The outline of the course was developed, presenters were identified, and field activities arranged, including rangeland inventory and monitoring, plant identification, weed identification, soil health assessment, and animal handling demonstrations. UC RREA project Upgrade and Analyze ANR's Oak Woodland Management Website increased the functionality and visual appeal of the UC California Oak Woodland Management website that has served as a valuable extension outreach tool since its creation in 1995. The site is a repository of over 30-years of research and outreach concerning the ecology, management, and conservation of California's 8 million acres of oak woodlands. The new site has a much-improved design to better meet the mobile needs of the project's target audiences: homeowners, ranchers, and planners. The improved website will launch soon.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Barry, S., S. Larson, S., and L. Ford. 2018. Developing Livestock Leases for Annual Grasslands. Berkeley, CA: University of California Division of Agricultural Sciences Leaflet 21424. 12 pgs.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Rangeland Manager Resources https://ucanr.edu/sites/Rangelands/Rangeland_Manager_Resouces
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
CalLands
http://callands.ucanr.edu/about.html
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
CalOaks Management
http://wordpress-99005-579799.cloudwaysapps.com
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Progress 12/13/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The California RREA Program provides education and materials to educate and extend new knowledge on the management and preservation of California's natural resources to private landowners, professional land managers, educators, natural resource professionals and natural resource volunteers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Educational events: 22 Conferences: 14 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Funded projects resulted in relevant information being developed and presented to the communities of interest through workshops, websites, and publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The University of California's RREA program will continue to competitively award internal grants to enable collaboration and improved program delivery to effectively address the multi-use management issues that occur on diverse private lands in California. The program will also continue to seek solutions to complex issues and be responsive to the needs of resource managers and users.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The California RREA Program continued offering a competitive grants program and in FY2017 the program funded 10 projects focusing on 3 RREA Strategic Goals and 5 RREA issue areas. The outcomes of the University of California RREA program for FY 2017 are detailed below. RREA Goal 1: Ensuring Healthy Ecosystems Issue: Invasive Species Management of invasive riparian plant species is a critical goal for the state's working landscapes. The RREA project Integrated Riparian Weed Management, Realizing Multiple Objectives developed two workshops, one for ranchers and rangeland owners and one for agency management, to distribute much needed information on existing weed management tools for riparian areas. They also arranged ranch tours to demonstrate on-the-ground riparian weed management practices. Overall evaluations indicated 100 participants gained knowledge of invasive species and increased their awareness of the economic and environmental impacts of invasive species. Issue: Land Conversion, Fragmentation, and Parcelization Land use change is the leading cause of biodiversity decline and ecosystem service degradation. Natural resource agencies, local and state governments, and environmental groups need access to past land use changes and information on land parcelization. A parcelization map of California existed; however, the information was difficult and expensive to access. The RREA project California Land Trends developed a website that presents the maps data in an easy to use format; it employs simple drop-down and anyone who with a browser should be able to find the land use information needed very easily. RREA Goal 2: Enhancing Economic Benefits Issue: Economic Opportunities for Individuals and Communities Conservation easements restrict development in designated areas and have emerged a primary channel for protecting private land against development. RREA project Conservation Easements: Optimal Payments and Land Use Change focused on determining the optimal conservation easement payment structure comparing the aggregate welfare effects of one-time easement payments relative to leases and annual Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), while focusing on indirect land use change effects. The team developed a survey with a central question of which conservation easement payment structure delivered the greatest combined welfare to landowners, conservation groups and the public at large. The data gathered was used to construct an economic model of stakeholder behavior. The team determined the socially optimal level of conservation, that landowners self-identifying as members of a ranching community have a positive correlation with preference for a lump sum. Follow up was conducted with 774 survey responders who requested and were given additional information on the income benefits of conservation easements. RREA Goal 3: Enhancing Resource Management on Working Forests and Rangelands Issue: Rangeland Stewardship and Health UC ANR has many valuable PDF publications about rangeland and grazing management; however, many were not easy for users to locate. A RREA project Improving the Livestock and Natural Resource Program's Social Media Footprint created a website (http://ucanr.edu/sites/StanLivestock2017/) as a clearinghouse for all UC ANR publications related to rangeland livestock and natural resources; set up scheduled media posts to Facebook and Twitter one day a week through 2019; and created a quarterly electronic newsletter to further publicize the publications. RREA project Reducing Cheat Grass Invasion and associated Fire Risk in NE California Sagebrush Rangelands established a core team of range professionals to provide a critical knowledge to local rangeland owners and managers about the importance of reducing annual grass invasions and using the green-strip/fuel break method for wildfire prevention and to lessen wildfire impacts. Project partners, including private landowners, grazing perimeters, NRCS, BLM, and USFWS, 27 reported increased knowledge about rangeland vegetation, and six have implemented a new practice involving 29 acres. The RREA project Livestock-Predator Conflict Management: Extension and Education Program provided rangeland livestock producers with science-based information on best management practices for navigating livestock-predator conflicts via a series of workshops and development of educational outreach materials. They produced seven workshops, an online publication, Livestock Protection Tools for California Ranchers, and developed a policy brief overview. The workshop evaluations indicated 272 attendees had increased awareness and 167 increased knowledge regarding best management practices for predator control, particularly the recently returned to California wolves, on their rangelands. The RREA project Building Capacity for Prescribed Fire on Private Lands addressed the fact that California landowners and community groups have shown significant interest and demand for using prescribed fire as a tool to lessen wildfire impacts; however, there was very little guidance or resources regarding the methods and the law. The project developed written and digital publications; developed and presented workshops and live-fire trainings; and produced videos that focus on prescribed fire on private lands. They held nine workshops, trainings and presentations, and evaluations showed 215 attendees increased rangeland management knowledge, and three ranchers to date have developed new stewardship plans that include using prescribed fire as a management tool. Issue: Forest Stewardship and Health RREA project Lake Tahoe Firewise Landscaping Initiative had the goal to provide Lake Tahoe residents' educational resources to reduce the wildfire impacts in their forest properties and neighborhoods. The team developed publications on how to utilize native and adapted plants in landscapes for fire safety and other conservation measures, created a website for the program, held workshops, and had an educational booth at local events to distribute the information they had developed. As a result, 463 residents indicated increased awareness, and 250 indicated increased knowledge of forest stewardship practices and implemented a new forest stewardship practice. The goal of RREA project Support for the Working Group for Phytophthoras in Native Habitats was to minimize Phytopthora and other plant pathogens' spread to native plant vegetation. They accomplished this by providing known plant pathogen management strategies to land managers, vegetation ecologists, and native plant nurseries. They developed and held a symposium that brought the updated pathogen management information to restoration nursery growers, land managers, regulators, and land owners. They also arranged in-person nursery site visits highlighting sanitation practices. The project resulted in 175 of the workshop and tour participants indicating increased awareness and 140 increased knowledge on the benefits and opportunities of forest stewardship. Publications on plant pathogens in natural areas was finalized and distributed, and team members provided assistance to state lawmakers to inform proposed legislation on plant movement in natural areas. The Sustainable You! Summer Camp project was partially supported by RREA to develop a summer camp for underserved youth to learn important information about the basics of sustainable land management practices and engage in scientific discovery. RREA funded a summer student intern who reviewed other states summer camp programs, developed relationships with the local 4-H group leaders and secured their help with the camp long-term, and developed a resource kit to be used by the children while at camp.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Macon, D.K, R.A. Baldwin, D.F. Lile, J. Stackhouse, C.K. Rivers, T. Saitone, T.K. Schohr, L.K. Snell, J. Harper, R. Ingram, K. Rodrigues, L. Macaulay, and L.M. Roche. IN PRESS. Livestock protection tools for California ranchers. Oakland: University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 8598.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Rivers, C.K., J. Davy, E.S. Gornish, and L.M. Roche. IN PREP. Integrated riparian weed management: Realizing multiple objectives. UC ANR 8000 Series Publications.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Guidelines to Minimize Phytophthora Contamination in Restoration Projects
http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Restoration_guidance_FINAL-111716.pdf
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Guidance for environmental regulators to reduce the risk of Phytophthora and other plant pathogen introductions to restoration sites
http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PWG-regulator-white-paper-FINAL-060217.pdf
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Roche, Leslie. (2017, Aug. 31). Livestock Predator Hub. UC Rangelands: Supporting Working Landscapes. http://rangelands.ucdavis.edu/predator-hub/
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Becchetti, Theresa. (2017, Aug. 31). Livestock and Range: UC Cooperative Extension in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. http://ucanr.edu/sites/StanLivestock2017/
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