Conservationists team up with ranchers, loggers

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121215/DA36DVQO0.html

By GOSIA WOZNIACKA

FRIANT, Calif. (AP) - Two cowboys on horses pushed cattle across an expanse of golden hills overgrown with tall grasses and oak trees, up an unpaved road toward another pasture.

From the Sierra Nevada foothills, the cattle will be sent for processing into beef, prized by consumers looking for locally raised, grass-fed meat in California's Central Valley.

But this isn't a ranch. It's a nature preserve managed by the Sierra Foothill Conservancy, a Fresno-area land trust that protects ecosystems. The Conservancy says it is breaking new ground by raising its own beef herd, using cattle to benefit the environment and to improve its bottom line.

The beef operation is one of several novel approaches - cost-effective, though paradoxical - that marry conservation work with industries often held in low esteem by environmentalists.

FULL story at link.



In this photo taken on Nov. 26, 2012 near Friant, Calif., cattle manager Logan Page pushes cattle grazing on the Finegold Creek Preserve toward another pasture. The preserve is owned by the Sierra Foothill Conservancy, a Fresno-area land trust that's raising its own beef herd to benefit the environment and to improve its bottom line. (AP Photo/Gosia Wozniacka)