Archive for December 2019
Hunters Helping with Wildlife Management on Private Lands
In its third year, the Master Hunter Program educates and certifies qualified hunters, and provides landowners with a pool of competent, ethical and responsible hunters to draw from when weighing options to manage wildlife populations on their land, and considering who to allow on their property to hunt.
Read More...An Old Tool Protecting New Calves
A tool originally developed for hunting wolves is a non-lethal option for protecting livestock from them, through a public-private partnership in big sky country.
Read More...Motherherd
I’ve always doted on the calves, but this year I realize that I am in love with the Motherherd. I love the Mother words: Motherlove, Mothergod, Acequia Madre. Written as compound words, they become icons rather than alphabetic symbols to me, and like an icon, the paint, wood and gilt is believed to be infused with the sacred nature of what it depicts. The word and the herd smooth my skin when I’m rattled or angry.
Read More...Western Digest – December 2019
Monthly digest of news and opportunities on working lands, water and wildlife.
Read More...NRCS and the 2018 Farm Bill: What’s New
When a new farm bill comes out, there is often a sinking feeling that it’s going to be a lot to swallow and maybe not all of it will be great tasting. Will the same programs be available? And if so, what will be different about them, if anything? What exactly are the programs again?
Read More...Profiles in Land and Management – Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area
As part of our Profiles in Land and Management series, this month we highlight Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area. 4x4s and ATVs meet cattle where the California Department of Parks & Recreation seeks to reduce fire risk at this multiuse park on the San Andreas fault. Adaptive planned grazing increases perennial grasses and listed species, keeps the neighbors happy, and saves the land management agency time and money.
Read More...Living with Livestock: A Summer Herding Cattle in the Sawtooth Mountains
As I drove north and east, away from the golden California foothills that are Steinbeck country and into a Martian landscape where places went by names like “Craters of the Moon,” “Atomic City” and the “Sawtooth Mountains,” I wondered what was wrong with me.
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