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A California Newt (Taricha torosa) makes its appearance thanks to our recent, and much-appreciated-by-all, rains - Photo Kathy Webster |
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Social Regeneration
by Kevin Alexander Watt and Megan Shahan
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Regenerative [ ri-jen-er-uh-tiv] Agriculture (n.)
“The science, art, or occupation concerned with providing ample, nutritious food; improving local economies fairly; promoting racial and gender equity; building soil fertility, restoring biodiversity, and improving water cycling and water quality; and using natural processes to achieve climate stability by restoring carbon and other nutrients to the soil.”
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Human beings are an integral part of our planet, inextricably linked with the natural world. This simple truth is often overlooked in our modern society, at a critical time where human activities are the primary drivers of change. Thus, our actions must be intentionally designed to regenerate. A truly regenerative food system must seek to not only be environmentally and economically regenerative, but socially regenerative as well. As we work to grow a food system that nourishes, supports, and inspires us all, we are guided by yet another simple truth: all humans deserve respect, equitable access, and a seat at the table.
Food is the foundation of human culture. Food nourishes us. Food connects us in community to one another and to our planetary life support system. Any food system that violently or apathetically exploits, excludes, and devalues human beings (and the precious natural resources upon which we all depend) is dangerous and unsustainable.
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Fire-resilience on Working Landscapes
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A collaborative exploration of adaptive planned goat and cattle grazing, prescribed burns, mechanical mastication, and other strategies for fuel load management.
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 Throughout the world, climate change is impacting people’s lives. Rangelands, and the ranchers who depend upon these ecosystems for their livelihood, are no exception. One way that change is taking place is through increasingly severe heat and drought conditions which make rangelands more susceptible to catastrophic wildfires. At TomKat Ranch, we’ve embarked on a mission to trial various methods to reduce dangerous fuel load conditions to protect the ranch and our surrounding community. To date, we have done this through the creation of strategic fire breaks with hand crews and machinery, bringing in goats to manage vegetation around structures and in hard-to-access areas, and prescribed burns where other strategies don’t work.
As part of our mission to demonstrate and broadcast what we are learning, recently we hosted neighbors, land managers, conservation groups, fire-focused organizations, and advocates of regenerative agriculture to join us on our journey to learn about methods to build a fire-resilient landscape. The intention of the gathering was to foster discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of adaptive planned goat and cattle grazing, prescribed burns, mechanical mastication, and other strategies for fuel load management. Together we visited first-hand examples and discussed the pros, cons, and results of each management practice. Our team learned a lot from the incredible folks who so generously shared their ideas, observations, and wisdom with us.
As our understanding of fire mitigation strategies improves, we will be writing more about what we learn. Scientists are clear in their warning: fire is a fact of our future. As such, we know that growing more fire-resilient communities is an imperative for land management in the American West going forward.
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EcoFarm 2022: Pre-conference Field Day - Weaving Together Our Past, Present,
and Future
by Kathy Webster
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Next year (January 2022) will be the 42nd annual EcoFarm Conference! Each year, the EcoFarm Conference gathers agriculturalists working to advance ecological and equitable farms and food systems. The conference hosts various skill-building workshops, visionary keynote speakers, networking opportunities, farm tours, field days, and more. For the past several years, TomKat Ranch has had the pleasure of serving on the EcoFarm Planning Committee that helps plan the conference as well as a subgroup of the planning committee that organizes a special pre-conference field day. We were thrilled to plan this year’s field day in collaboration with the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, Pie Ranch, and the wonderful Carla Rosin.
EcoFarm’s pre-conference field days are an excellent opportunity for attendees to get on the land and learn directly from various land stewards. Some of the past field days have been hosted at Paicines Ranch and Swanton Pacific Ranch, highlighting regenerative grazing and soil health with expert speakers (Gabe Brown, Ray Archuletta, Nicole Masters, Loren Poncia).
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What We’re Reading- Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation.
by Kevin Alexander Watt
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Recently a colleague shared how much she enjoyed listening to an interview with Paul Hawken on the podcast Insights at the Edge with Tami Simon where Paul discusses his new book, Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. I agree, the podcast was excellent and inspired me to dive deeper into Regeneration.
For those who may not know Paul Hawken, he is a remarkable environmental activist who works to bring scientific rigor and deep human empathy to his work. His previous book, Drawdown, was an exploration of practices and technologies that bring down dangerous levels of atmospheric carbon that are destabilizing our climate. Even four years after it was published, I still reference the amazing website it spawned that makes searching and discovering climate solutions easy.
Regeneration is an empowering follow-up to Drawdown. Paul describes it as “a response to the urgency of the crisis, a determined what-to-do manual for all levels of society, from individuals to national governments and everything and everyone in between. It describes a system of interlocking initiatives that can stem the climate crisis in one generation.”
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