2025 Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium
February 18 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Established in 2012, the Rustici Rangeland Science Symposia connect ranchers, land managers, conservationists, policymakers, and scientists to drive meaningful change on California’s rangelands.
The 2025 Symposium will address transformational shifts in environment, policy, and society.
Key themes will include: 1) climate and weather; 2) wildfire resilience; and 3) ranching with wolves.
Register here
Preliminary Agenda
8:00 am: Registration opens
9:30 am: Welcome and Overview
9:50 am: Session 1 – Weather and Climate
Building Climate Resilience across California’s Rangelands: Approaches for Sustainable Ranching, Adaptive Management, and Collaborative Conservation, Leslie Roche, Russell L. Rustici Endowed Specialist in Rangeland Watershed Science, Professor of Cooperative Extension in Rangeland Management, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences
Climate-smart Agriculture: Rangeland Soil Health, Anthony T. O’Geen, Professor & Soil Resource Specialist in Cooperative Extension, Russell L. Rustici Endowed Chair in Rangeland Watershed Science, UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources
Outlook for California rangelands, Daniel Swain, Climate Scientist, California Institute for Water Resources, UC ANR and Institute of the Environment & Sustainability, UCLA
11:20 am: Networking, Poster Session, and Lunch
1 pm: Session 2 – Building Wildfire Resilience
California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force: Expanding the use of prescribed grazing as a landscape management tool, Patrick Wright, Director of the Governor’s California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force
State-of-the-Art Strategies for Reducing Wildfire Risk on Forests and Rangelands, Dan Macon, UCCE Livestock & Natural Resources Advisor, Central Sierra, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Bianca Artadi Soares Shapero, Targeted Grazing Practitioner and Project Manager at Star Creek Land Stewards Inc.
Ranching through Wildfire, Tracy Schohr, UCCE Livestock & Natural Resources Advisor, Plumas, Sierra, and Butte Counties
2:20 pm: Break
2:50 pm: Session 3 – Ranching with Wolves
Status of Gray Wolf Population and Conservation in California, Axel Honeycutt, State Wolf Coordinator, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Understanding the Scale and Scope of Wolf – Cattle Conflict on California’s Ranches, Ken Tate, Professor and CE Specialist in Rangeland Watershed Sciences, UC Davis
Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Ranching with Wolves, Tina Saitone, Professor of Extension, UC Davis Agricultural and Resource Economics
4:20 pm: Wrap-up Discussion
4:30 pm: Mixer, Networking and Poster Session