Kathy Voth
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Kathy Voth, Project Lead
Kathy is based out of Loveland, Colorado. Her background includes 7 years of research and development on the use of goats to reduce fire danger for homes in wildland areas. Since 2004 she has been working on developing steps that anyone can use to train their livestock as weed managers. She works with Beth Burritt at Utah State University to develop materials to help others understand and apply animal behavior principles. Products include an on-line course "Using Livestock Behavior to Improve Landscapes, Productivity and Profitability," and a Train the Trainers handbook. Kathy and Beth are just beginning a video documenting the economics of using behavior in livestock operations.
Nicasio Cattle Company
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Peggy w/ hummingbirds
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Nicasio Native Grass Ranch - John Wick and Peggy Rathmann
John and Peggy own and operate the ranch. They use intensive grazing management to enhance native vegetation and wildlife habitat. They attempted to control distaff thistle on their ranch by spraying with transline. When the herbicide wasn't successful, they began to look for other alternatives that would also allow them to return the ranch to its organic status. They subsequently sponsored Kathy Voth's November 2005 presentation on training cows to eat weeds and are supporting the effort to introduce this technique in Marin County by using their own ranch in one of the first pilot projects.
Chileno Valley Beef
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Sally and Mike Gale
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- Mike and Sally Gale
This 600 acre cattle ranch in West Marin was orginally purchased in 1862 by Sally's great-great-grandfather. Originally a dairy, producing butter and cheese, the ranch now produces grass-fed beef and organic apples. The Gales have worked hard to restore the Ranch buildings and lands. To get a better feel for how they manage their operation, and the hard work that went into their beautiful place, be sure to visit their web site.
The organic status of the ranch is now threatened by a growing infestation of distaff, yellow star and purple star thistles. The worst of these is distaff and if the Gales were to spray they would lose their organic status for three years. Their customers are so loyal that some have even volunteered to be part of a thistle pulling team. The Gales are hopeful that by participating as one of the pilot project ranches they will be able to use their cows to control the weeds and maintain their organic status.
and the G Ranch - Joe, Joan, Kevin and Nancy Lunny
The Lunny's came to Inverness and the G Ranch in the late 1940s when Joe's father took over a dairying operation there. The land they leased was eventually sold to the National Park Service to become part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. The Lunny's are known for their innovation and their successful efforts to bring healthy organic products to market. Not only do they produce great, organic grassfed beef, but they are successfully producing organic artichokes by using natural predators living in bull thistle to fend off the moths that cause so many producers to take up pesticides. They also own the Drakes Bay Oyster Company which produces over 50% of the oysters raised in California and is home to the best tasting oyster based on votes of oyster producers nationwide.
The G Ranch where the Lunny's cows graze has very few weed issues thanks to three generations of stewardship. They are participating in this project by providing the cows that are working and learning at Nicasio Farms. Their hope is that this technique will be beneficial to the growing organic community where they live.
This is the office of the Ag. Commissioner, Stacy Carlsen and Deputy Ag. Commissioner Fred Crowder. Their mission is to serve the public's interest by ensuring equity in the market place, promoting and protecting agriculture, protecting environmental quality and health and welfare of Marin County's citizens. They are currently helping get the word out about this project to potentially interested people.
Helge Hellberg
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Founded in 1999, Marin Organic’s mission focuses on the environmental soundness and economic viability of farming and ranching in Marin County. Executive Director Helge Hellberg and his staff help bring attention to the importance of agriculture and of supporting local growers and producers. For example, in November 2005, they hosted the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall for a visit of the Point Reyes Farmers Market, to focus a world spotlight on efforts of Marin Organic and many other organizations in Marin County working to promote and protect sustainable agriculture. Marin Organic also supports projects that will help ranchers consider the option of organic certification for their operations.
Nancy Scolari, Executive Director
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Jeff Creque
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The mission of the Marin Resource Conservation District is to conserve and enhance Marin's natural resources, including it's soil, water, vegetation and wildlife. The RCD believes that the health of the county's natural landscape is dependent upon a robust agricultural economy and the active preservation of its agricultural heritage and that the agricultural productivity of the county is depends on practices that conserve and enhance its natural resources.
The Marin Resource Conservation District was established May 20, 1959. Approximately 250,000 acres are included in the district which generally covers the watersheds of Stemple, Walker, and Lagunitas Creeks. In the past 15 years the RCD has administered over 3 million dollars in government and private foundation grants for watershed-wide erosion control and restoration projects.
John DiGregoria
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This National Park Service Unit covers over 100 square miles of estuaries, windswept beaches, coastal scrub grasslands, salt and freshwater marshes, and coniferous forests. The cultural history of Point Reyes reaches back some 5,000 years to the Coast Miwok Indians who were the first human inhabitants of the Peninsula. In the early 1800s, Mexican land grantees established ranchos in the area. Some of today's dairy and beef producers in the Seashore's "Pastoral Zone" are fourth generation farmers and ranchers.
John DiGregoria is the Range Manager for Point Reyes National Seashore. He and Jane Rodgers, the Park's Vegetation Ecologist, have expressed an interest in exploring how livestock might be managed to reduce weeds and enhance native species in the Park Unit.
Beth Burritt
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Funding for this project is run through Utah State University. Our team member there is Beth Burritt. Beth has spent the last twenty years doing research and developing educational materials on how animals choose what to eat and how we might be able to use animal behavior to better manage landscapes. To learn more about the work done by Fred Provenza, Beth Burritt and their colleagues, visit the
