Sharing the Range: Managing Wildlife Impacts to Livestock Production in California Coast Range Working Landscapes Author Sheri Spiegal Ph.D
Title Sharing the range: managing wildlife impacts to livestock production in California Coast Range working landscapes Author Sheri Spiegal Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley Abstract Livestock and wildlife share grazed rangelands, and in many cases, they get along fine. Some wildlife species, however, can negatively impact livestock operations by killing livestock, consuming forage, damaging facilities, and transmitting disease. Ranchers have traditionally resorted to lethal wildlife control to reduce these impacts, yet this has been controversial as many people do not want any animal to be harmed for any reason. In addition, some policies designed to protect wildlife may be perceived by ranchers as doing so at the expense of livestock production. It is important to find ways to minimize the conflicts between livestock production and wildlife protection in order to maintain sustainable working landscapes that enjoy broad support among livestock producers and conservationists. Interviews of people connected with livestock production in and adjacent to the California Coast Ranges, from Mendocino County south to Monterey County, and a review of scientific literature were used to identify the main problems ranchers experience with wildlife and the impact reduction strategies they use that are broadly acceptable to the public. Interviewees most commonly described grievances related to the mountain lion, tule elk, coyote, California ground squirrel, and feral pig. For each of these species, a history of popular opinion in California is summarized, ecological and biological characteristics are briefly reviewed, impacts to livestock operations are described, dimensions of lethal control are outlined, and strategies used to reduce impacts with minimal controversy are assessed for their effectiveness.
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