Ranchers, Environmentalists, Researchers And Agencies Working Together For The Benefit Of All.

Summit Highlights
 
7th Annual California Rangeland Conservation Coalition Summit
January 19-20, 2012
UC, Davis - Freeborn Hall
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear the latest rangeland research, new collaborative partnerships on rangelands, and hear from ranchers – the stewards of California’s rangelands – about their vision for the future, challenges to maintain viable businesses and their individual conservation ethic.  The Rangeland Coalition is excited to host Kansas rancher, Bill Sproul. Bill and his wife Peggy own and operate a Flint Hills ranch near Sedan, Kansas. Hear firsthand Bill’s passion for protecting the working grassland landscapes, especially the tallgrass prairie in eastern Kansas, commonly referred to as the Kansas Flint Hills. Find out about his donation of an easement that coincides with the new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Flint Hills Legacy Conservation Area (FHLCA). Also, he will share with attendees the collaborative conservation taking place across the Midwest state and the challenges that the agencies, ranchers and conservation organizations have overcome and those that still exist today.       
Click here to register! Early registration discounted rates available through January 6. For more information on the summit, including the final agenda click here. For questions please contact Tracy Schohr at  tracy@carangeland.org or (916) 716-2643.

Thank you to the 2012 Summit Sponsors -
   Russell L. Rustici Rangeland Endowment Univ. of California, Davis
   Kearney Foundation for Soil Science, Univ. of California
   U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
   California Cattlemen’s Association
   The Nature Conservancy
   California Beef Council
   Sierra Nevada Conservancy
   California Rangeland Trust
   Audubon California
   Defenders of Wildlife
   California Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative
   California Native Plants Society
   California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
   Environmental Defense Fund
Booths – Showcase your organization at the Summit with a booth. Limited booth spaces are available – get yours today by clicking here. The $150 booth registration includes a covered table for both days of the event and a full registration. Sponsors do not need to register for a booth.
 
CEU’s –Certified Professionals in Rangeland Management can obtain continuing education credits at Summit. January 19 has been approved for 6 CEU’s and January has been approved for 6 CEU’s.

Rangeland Coalition Letter Sign On

The signatories of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition are invited to sign on to a letter expressing support for cosponsoring enhanced tax deduction for donations of conservation easements - S. 339 and HR. 1964 (the letter will be modified for the respective houses).   The legislation will make permanent the 2006 enhanced tax deduction for donations of conservation easements (the Coalition supported this in the 2008 Farm Bill) that are set to expire at the end of 2011. 
 
To have your organization added as a signatory on the letter or for more information on the legislation please contact Tracy Schohr at tracy@carangeland.org or (916) 716-2643. The deadline to have your organization sign on is January 5, 2012.  
 
In the News… Ranching Family and Award Nomination
 
On December 20, the Merced Sun-Star featured an article on the Burroughs family ranch. The article was title “Family farm honored for efforts at going green.” The article highlights the Merced County ranches stewardship practices, their conservation ethic and their recent nomination for the Leopold Conservation Award. To read the complete story click here.
 
$131 Million Invested in Conservation in California in Fiscal Year 2011 (source NRCS)

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California worked hand-in-hand with thousands of farmers and ranchers, awarding $131 million to help them protect water, soil and air resources, wildlife, forests, and rangelands throughout the State in Fiscal Year 2011. Agricultural producers also paid approximately 50 percent of the conservation costs with their own money. NRCS California entered into more than 2,200 contracts with California’s agricultural producers this fiscal year.
"When we pause at year's end to reflect on the enormity of the work being done, we are reminded again of the dedication and conservation ethic of all the farmers and ranchers throughout California who are working with us," says Ed Burton, NRCS California state conservationist. "We are proud to be partners with them in helping them care for the land."
Burton also says that farmers and ranchers are increasingly working with NRCS to develop conservation plans that provide a road map to realize their landscape goals for better production and environmental quality. "We have made a big effort to offer conservation planning as part of our technical and financial assistance and increasingly California producers are using this tool to incrementally and successfully build their vision for their land."

2012 Conservation Stewardship Program Sign-Up

The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that the 2012 ranking period cutoff for theConservation Stewardship Program(CSP) is January 13, 2012.
All producers who have submitted their completed short conservation program application form by January 13 will then have until early March 2012 to sit down with their local NRCS staff person and fill out the CSP Conservation Measurement Tool (CMT) which will be used to determine program eligibility, environmental benefits ranking, and CSP payment amounts.  The CMT session will generally last an hour or more.
NRCS currently expects to complete theranking process by early March.  Farmers and ranchers with the highest environmental benefits scores on the CMT will be chosen for enrollment.  NRCS will then schedule on-farm verification visits and develop a CSP plan and contract for each enrollee.  The agency currently expects that process to last through mid to late April.  The first annual payments for five-year contracts awarded in this round will be made on or after October 1, 2012 and then every October 1 thereafter.
To sign up, producers should visit their NRCS local service center.

NRCS California Allocates $1 Million to Fund Tribal-Specific Conservation Practices (source NRCS)

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California has partnered with California's tribal nations to make $1 million available to help tribal farmers and ranchers put additional conservation on the ground.  Applications will be accepted through Feb. 3, 2012, for consideration.  Funding will be distributed through two statewide and three landscape tribal resource priority areas. The statewide priorities are aimed at restoring and managing native plant species, improving water quality, reducing soil erosion, and a handful of other resource concerns. The three Landscape Resource Priorities are aimed at improving and managing forest health and reducing wildfire threats, as well as rangeland health and water quality. For more information click here.

Open Vertical Pipes Deathtraps for Birds and Wildlife (source Audubon California)
 
Open top vertical pipes are a hazard to birds, lizards, small mammals and other wildlife that get into these pipes and are unable to get out. Birds looking for nest cavities, animals escaping from predators or lizards just scampering into open pipes are frequently trapped. This leads to a miserable death from starvation and exposure.
 
Last fall on a property adjacent to the Kern River Preserve, a 20 foot tall by 8 inch diameter vent tube on an abandoned irrigation system rusted and fell over. When Audubon stewardship staff picked up the pipe they were shocked to find inside a 7 foot long, black mass composed entirely of decomposed carcasses of hundreds of dead birds and animals including kestrels, flickers, bluebirds and fence lizards.
Kern River Preserve staff encourages landowners to cap, close, remove or screen all open topped pipes on their property to avoid unnecessary wildlife deaths. For more information click here.
 
 Ducks Unlimited Designs Incentive Mechanism for Pasture and Grassland
 
Coalition signatory, Ducks Unlimited, supported by a USDA Conservation Innovation Grant, initiated a project to compensate farmers and ranchers to refrain from converting pasture and grassland to crops. The first phase of the project is underway, and will calculate the carbon credits available to landowners for maintaining these ecosystems. Funds from the grant will then go towards purchasing verified carbon credits to compensate landowners. This pilot is intended to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a grassland-based carbon credit program, and motivate additional projects in the U.S. and globally. For more information click here.

Job Opportunity
US Forest Service
 
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest isseeking a dynamic, innovative self starter to work in our Range program as a Lead Ranger and Invasive Species Technician.  This position will be a permanent, seasonal position (9 months), with potential for year round employment if funding and project work allows.  Position responsibilities include vegetation monitoring; grazing permit administration; and invasive plant treatment crew management. The duty location is Redding, California.  Deadline to apply is January 20, 2012.
 
For additional information, contact: Marilyn Loughrey, Civil Rights Officer at (530)-226-2367 or by email at mloughrey@fs.fed.us.  
 
For any technical questions regarding the above position, please contact:
Philip Brownsey at (530) 226-2432 or by email at pbrownsey@fs.fed.us