This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Neighborhood Plan To Bring Back Cattle Grazing Hits Another Snag

The Park, Recreation, and Open Space Commission votes to keep cattle out of the Acalanes Ridge Open Space.

The neighborhood effort to return cattle grazing to the Acalanes Ridge Open Space has taken another hit.

After more than two and a half hours of discussion that included 29 public comments, the Park, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Commission did not waver Monday night from its October 2009 decision to remove grazing cattle from the Sugarloaf and Acalanes Ridge open spaces.

The four commissioners at the meeting voted unanimously to keep cattle off the Acalanes Ridge Open Space. Three of the commissioners, Richard Carlston, Sandra Jacobsen and Rick Underwood, were not present.

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nancy Dawson Dollard, the supervising ranger in the open space division, said she supported the decision to remove cattle from the “weed abatement” strategy at Acalanes Ridge and continue the effort to reduce fire danger ”through discing, weeding by hand and limited introduction of goats for weed abatement in areas closest to residential properties.”

Philip Held, the first member of the public to speak, presented the names of 17 residents, neighboring the Acalanes Ridge Open Space, who were going to speak at the meeting. Held stated in his presentation that the “affected residents were not advised of the new policy to remove the cows.”

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Joyce Ellis, who lives near the base of the Acalanes Open Space, said, “Why would a city already tight in funds, especially due to the down economy, turn down a service that would naturally take care of the need, that made the open space safe and friendly for its home owners and the area users?”

The city paid $5,800 for goats to graze 7.1 acres of Acalanes Ridge. The previous contract at Acalanes, involving cattle, paid the city $2,056 to allow them to graze on the site.

Dick Daniel, who is a current member of the Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation Board and one of the founders of the 20-year-old Oak Habitat Restoration Project, argued that grazing cattle should not be returned because they eat oak tree saplings.

“(The) cattle can do some good, but they also do a lot of bad,” said Daniel.

Bob Brittain, who was a PROS commissioner at the October 2009 meeting, said that although the grasses are high, the type of grass and the trees at Acalanes Ridge only present a moderate fire danger. 

“If you have high grass, what is going to happen is that the leaves at the bottom of the tree are going to be singed, but for an oak tree to catch on fire, unlike a eucalyptus like they had in Berkeley, you are going to need a lot of heat,” said Brittain. “It takes a while for it to really get going, by which time (the fire department will be at the site).

Commissioner Tom Worthy said, “There is no way to eliminate the danger of fire. We all want to ensure that the danger of fire in and around the open space is reduced as much as possible. To do so it is a shared responsibility between the city and the residents (adjacent) to the open spaces.”

After Dollard’s initial report, Commissioner Joe Stadum asked her why the agenda report for the meeting said that the commission supported the proposal to eliminate grazing, in 2009, on a “trial basis.”

Dollard said that the elimination of cattle never was considered an experiment.

In addition to removing cattle grazing from Acalanes Ridge, two alternatives were given in the staff report. 

  • Determine if there is a viable cattle rancher to bring cattle onto the property for the 2011/2012 cattle grazing season. This would be seasonal grazing for a two- to four-month period. This action would include exploring the possibility of providing temporary fencing to separate cattle from open space users.
  • Determine is there is a viable cattle rancher to bring cattle onto the property as soon as possible. This would bring cattle onto the property outside of the optimal grazing time period.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?