SUMMER IN THE PINES MULTI GENERATIONAL RANCHING FAMILIES DEPEND ON AND CONTRIBUTE TO HEALTHY PUBLIC LANDS by CCA Associate Director of Communications Maureen LaGrande
Throughout the state of California, livestock can be seen in the pasture, rangelands and in the forest. While not all ranchers may own property in the forest, some acquire a permit that allows them to run their livestock for a given period of time on land managed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Forest Service. According to the U.S. Forest Service there are 515 active grazing allotments in California. Dependent upon, weather, location and feed, ranchers commonly winter and summer their cattle in two different locations. The reason for this is to let the land that the cattle had grazed on during the previous season take time to replenish itself for the following year when the cattle return. Some other reasons for moving the animals to different locations are due to the operations calving season as well as weather conditions for the area in which the rancher lives, For instance those who reside in the valley will run their animals near their home in the winter, but during the summer when temperatures reach close to triple digits, having a place to take their cattle where the temperatures are a little cooler, serve as a nice break for both the rancher and animal. Grace Guthrie, Porterville, the seventh generation of the Guthrie Ranch shares that her family has been taking livestock to the Summit Allotment in the Giant Sequoia National Monument since 1895 when her great great great grandfather began moving livestock there during the summer months. On a normal year, the Guthrie family bring their cattle to the allotment in July and move them home from September to early October. The exact dates ranchers are allowed to bring their animals on to the permit is communicated through local Forest Service staff in which the allotment is located. Just like having a good relationship with neighbors, it is crucial to openly communicate and follow rules when running cattle on someone else’s land. “We always respect 34 California Cattleman July 2024
the dates that they give us,” said Guthrie. Once an allotment is obtained, getting the livestock up to the designated area is a large job in itself. In May all the animals are at the home ranch where they are gathered and hauled to the Tyler Creek Ranch which is the mid-point between the home place and the allotment. Guthrie shares that once the animals arrive at Tyler Creek they stay there for the month of June. As July rolls around the family gathers the cattle in the fields and pushes them up the chute. The chute is a wide trail with fences on both sides that leads up the hill to the allotment. “I love the whole process, even though it’s a lot of work,” said Guthrie. Throughout the summer the Guthrie’s go up about every two weeks to check on their cattle to make sure the animals are in good health and are in the right spot. A perk of running animals on the allotment is knowing that there will be accessible feed for the cattle upon their arrival. “If we have a bad feed year, we don’t have to immediately purchase hay, we can rely on the fact that we have feed on the permit,” said Guthrie. When the cattle arrive at the allotment the area in which they reside is fenced in and borders the Tule River Reservation. Keeping animals in their specified area is important so that animals do not invade others’ property or get mixed up with other animals. “We have had a really good relationship with our local forest service workers,” said Guthrie. The Forest Service and Tule River Reservation came to an agreement that the Forest Service would provide the fence and all materials needed and that the reservation would provide the labor to put the fence in. As the permit holder, the Guthrie’s job is to maintain and fix the fence as needed during and upon their return to the permit. “Every year some of our employees, my dad