AP story on green ranchers makes the rounds

The Associated Press reporter in the Fresno bureau, Garance Burke, posted a story on the AP wire today about "green ranchers," which has been picked up widely by newspapers in California and elsewhere, including the San Francisco Chronicle.

The article says that ranchers haven't always had the best relationship with environmentalists, but a "new crop of cattlemen are quietly working to minimize their industry's ecological footprint and are forging unlikely alliances with environmental groups."

Burke included a colorful quote from UC Cooperative Extension range management farm advisor Neil McDougald.

"This new generation of ranchers knows they have to work on the environmental part of it to survive," McDougald is quoted. "I'll guarantee you the guys driving cows today have a better environmental conscience than the ranchers who were riding around holding up stagecoaches."

Burke also spoke to Mel George, a range ecologist at UC Davis who, according to the story, said foraging has contributed to the erosion of arid Western rangelands and watershed contamination in the last two centuries. "The environmental movement has hit back with lawsuits seeking to ban cattlemen from running their herds on public lands," Burke wrote.

Research and government programs highlighting how grazing can benefit the environment have helped make partners out of livestock producers and their adversaries, according to paraphrased comments attributed to George.

The article has appeared in the following newspapers:

• The (Redding) Record Searchlight
• The Lexington Herald-Leader
• The Houma (Louisiana) Courier

Cattle graze rangeland

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