Cattle, birds, endangered species coexist in Ramona grasslands

By: QUINN EASTMAN - Staff Writer | Saturday, December 24, 2005 7:23 PM PST ∞

RAMONA ---- Entering the grasslands on Rangeland Road presents a series of contrasts: Dozens of cows graze outside the gates of an exclusive community. Beyond neighborhood traffic lies seemingly vacant rolling hills where birds burst from every other bush.

These are the remains of a habitat that once sprawled across Southern California.

"Look, meadowlarks," said Zach Principe, an ecologist working for the Nature Conservancy on a visit earlier this month. Under tufts of California buckwheat, he also pointed out rodent burrows and picked up a handful of crumbly ground cover.

Principe was on hand to begin surveying the national conservation group's latest acquisition, a 1,230-acre property known as the Davis/Eagle Ranch, northwest of the Ramona Airport. This property is part of around 8,000 acres of what's known as the Ramona grasslands.

Working together with county officials, the conservancy has been buying chunks of property with the aim of preserving this disappearing landscape. Houses and freeways have replaced the vast majority of the county's grasslands, leaving just remnants west of Ramona and around Jamul and Lake Henshaw.

The grasslands both provide habitat for year-round resident wildlife and act as a natural connector between protected lands such as the Cleveland National Forest and Iron Mountain for migratory wildlife, Principe said.

Conservancy managers said the nonprofit has a long-term goal of preserving at least half of the roughly 8,000 acres of grassland around the Ramona Airport. The group's $7 million purchase in December from Scripps family heiress and Pasadena-area resident Roxanne Greene triples its holdings in the area to 1,880 acres, after two smaller purchases since 2003.

The Conservancy's progress has created some uncertainty about the land's future. San Diego County parks officials would like to see public access and trials. The local water district says it needs access to the land as an outlet for its treated water --- a use that helps support the cattle along the road.

Eagles, owls, hawks
Even before the Conservancy became involved, the grasslands were a favorite site for birdwatchers. Every Saturday in January and February, up to 100 people have been coming to Hawk Watch events held by the Wildlife Research Institute on Highland Valley Road.

The area is home to birds such as golden eagles, burrowing owls and ferruginous hawks, said Jeff Lincer, research director at the institute. Visitors can usually see between 10 and 12 species of raptors, he said.

"One of the reasons why the grasslands are so valuable is because the prey base [such as small mammals] for the raptors is here," Lincer said. "That's why they stay here."

To aid the birders and others, county officials say the grasslands area could include public trails in a few years, after a management plan is created. But to do that, the county would also need to buy the land from the conservancy.

"Our whole mission is to improve public access to these beautiful areas," said Trish Boaz, head of open space for the county parks and recreation department.

However, before trails can be designed come surveys for Indian archeological sites and for invasive species, Boaz said.

Only half of the Ramona grasslands area has been surveyed for archaeological sites, said consultant Susan Hector, a former county parks official. But there are 140 known prehistoric sites in the area already, she said.

"It's an incredibly rich environment," she said.

In the meantime, county officials have been advising neighboring homeowners to help preserve the landscape by keeping pets inside at night, not washing cars in the driveway and removing non-native plants.

Over the next year, ecologists will be looking to remove fast-growing "noxious weeds" such as artichoke thistle. Various varieties of thistle, such as non-native Canadian, Italian and artichoke thistle, can grow over five feet high and drive out the low grasses that provide a habitat for small animals, the Conservancy's Principe said.

Some are skeptical, some not
The grassland project has received mixed responses in Ramona.

"It depends who you're talking to," said Chris Anderson, a real estate agent handling luxury houses to the north of the Davis/Eagle property and a member of the local planning group.

Some homeowners like the conservation efforts because it keeps the area thinly populated, she said.

Other Ramona residents are disappointed because the plans appear to preclude construction of a still-unbuilt "North Bypass" road that has been on county maps for decades and could ease traffic jams on Highway 67, Anderson said.

Property rights advocate Darrell Beck said he was skeptical that the public would be able to visit the conservancy's land and argued that county acquisition could reduce the local property tax base.

The Ramona Municipal Water District also has a stake in the grasslands. The district now leases part of the Davis-Eagle property, where it sprays treated wastewater from about 4,000 homes.

Saying that it had no economically-viable options for disposal of its effluent, the district began in early December eminent domain proceedings to take 283 acres of the Davis-Eagle property, just before the Conservancy's purchase completed escrow.

Nature Conservancy managers say they are negotiating with the district for a sales agreement that would allow the district to continue to spray but not develop the land.

The effluent, slightly saltier than tap water, encourages the growth of vegetation and indirectly feeds the cattle which are tended by a Julian family.

Cattle can coexist with kangaroo rats
Conservancy ecologists say that moderate cattle grazing is compatible with preservation of San Diego County grassland, unlike other western habitats.

Environmental groups have protested grazing in areas such as the Big Sur coastline in Los Padres National Forest. "Overgrazing is a huge problem all over the western United States," Principe said. "If we were in Arizona or New Mexico, this wouldn't fly."

In contrast to the negative impact grazing has on sensitive species in other habitats, the endangered Stephen's kangaroo rat, one of the species the conservancy is trying to protect, seems to prefer to live in low, nibbled-down vegetation, he said.

Before Europeans came to California, it's not clear what kinds of plants and animals lived on the grasslands, he said. Archeological research suggests the Indians did actively manage the landscape with fire.

"But now, we have several sensitive species that thrive in this habitat," he said. "And cows are an integral part of that."

Contact staff writer Quinn Eastman at (760) 740-5412 or qeastman@nctimes.com.

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