In Modoc County, located in northeastern California, there is a high elevation sage-steppe rangeland ecosystem heavily populated by free roaming equids and managed primarily by the United States Forest Service (USFS) known as the Devil's Garden. Free roaming equid populations have significantly exceeded (roughly 2000 horses) appropriate management levels (206-402 horses) in the last decade and expanded their range outside of the designated territory (about 250,000 acres) and on to private and tribal lands (over 450,000 acres), degrading rangeland and threatening endangered species. Helicopter gathers in recent years have removed over 2000 equids from the Devil’s Garden. Due to an extensive collaboration between the USFS-Modoc National Forest, and local partners, many of these equids have found new homes. An early collaborative group developed unique strategies for placement of old (over nine years of age and historically characterized as unadoptable) and young horses. Modoc County has utilized the government- to- government communication process to participate in management decisions and worked to change federal law to provide USFS equal opportunity to placement programs. A robust social media campaign ran by local volunteers has created a brand for the Devil’s Garden equids and educated the public on the declining range condition and equid health. Volunteers also matched potential adopters and buyers with transportation options for cross country transportation and some funding for transportation of large groups of equids was provided. Finally, the Devil’s Garden Colt Challenge has placed nearly 100 horses with California 4-H and FFA youth over the last three years and additional horses with friends and family members.

In Modoc County, located in northeastern California, there is a high elevation sage-steppe rangeland ecosystem heavily populated by wild horses and managed primarily by the United States Forest Service (USFS) called the Devil's Garden Plateau. Wild horses have significantly exceeded (roughly 2,000 horses) appropriate management levels (206-402 horses) in recent years and expanded their range outside of the designated territory (258,000 acres) and onto private and tribal lands (nearly 500,000 acres). Increased pressure from wild horses on the multiple use mandate of Forest Service lands have put strains on livestock, wildlife, and the local rural economy. The Modoc National Forest has decreased grazing by roughly 5,000 AUMs (animal unit months) on the Devil’s Garden Plateau due to excessive wild horse use. Each lost AUM results in a decrease of $57.43 - $144.70 of income to Modoc County. Three helicopter gathers in recent years have removed over 1,500 horses from the Devil’s Garden Plateau. Due to the extensive collaboration between the USFS, Modoc National Forest, and local partners, many of these horses have found new homes. This was done by using a tiered pricing approach and offering sales with limitations for older and unadoptable horses. The addition of a robust social media campaign run by volunteers has created a brand for the Devil’s Garden Plateau horses and educated the public on the declining range condition and horse health. Although good progress is being made to gather and place horses in private care, more diverse management solutions may be needed in the future.

When a large animal dies on a farm or ranch, there are often few options for disposal. In California, there are limited legal options especially as rendering facilities have closed, and both regulatory burden and the number of predators on the landscape have increased. Livestock Mortality Composting could be a viable solution to address these challenges. Composting of mammalian tissue is legal in most states and recommended for on-farm disposal of livestock mortalities but is currently illegal in California. Instead, many ranches have opted to use “bone piles” to dispose of livestock mortalities. This option has been shown to attract large predators such as wolves, mountain lions, bears and others making it a hazard for livestock operations by increasing the likelihood of livestock-predator interactions. Removing these bone piles is the number one predator attractant removal recommended by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Mammalian tissue composting is also a viable option for waste from on-farm animal processing especially as this practice has become more popular in the last few years. After navigating the regulatory oversight of multiple local and state agencies, a livestock mortality composting site was approved for research at the Intermountain Research and Extension Center in Tulelake, California. This site has composted four adult cows and demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of this process. Pile temperature was taken at 18 and 36 inches from August 2020 to January 2022. After each additional mortality, the temperature reached over 131°F for at least 72 hours to kill potential pathogens. Trail cameras were deployed at the compost site and at three nearby bone piles to compare wildlife interactions. The bone piles received on average 390 and 292 visits from predators in year one and year two respectively compared to eight visits to the compost pile. A best management practices document has been written to provide an on-farm livestock mortality composting exemption that falls within current California composting laws. This exemption could be carried out at the local, regional, or state level, although permanent changes to this policy will most likely need a legislative change.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 provides federal oversight and protection for feral horses (wild free-roaming; WFR horses) that inhabit designated areas on public lands in the western United States. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimated in 2019 that over 80,000 free-roaming equids inhabited 29 million hectares on 177 designated herd management areas. This population estimate exceeds the designated appropriate management level of 26,785. To provide BLM managers with insights regarding the U.S. public knowledge and perceptions about the management of WFR horses in the U.S., we surveyed the public using an online survey process. We hypothesized that respondents from the western U.S. would be more knowledgeable of the ecology and management of WFR horses, because of their proximity to most of the WFR horses managed in the U.S. We stratified the U.S. into five regions, with the intent to acquire at least 400 responses from each; we met this quota in four of the five regions (n of southwest = 376). Overall, the U.S. public was unknowledgeable about the ecology of WFR horses and legal management options to control their populations. While there were some associations between region, sex, age, income, and each of our questions, the strength of these associations was very weak. Therefore, demographics may not be useful in predicting the level of knowledge of the U.S. public concerning WFR horses. Our results highlight the need for improved outreach and communication efforts regarding the issues and consequences of free-roaming equid management approaches.

Belding’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi) cause extensive damage in alfalfa and other hay crops throughout substantial portions of the Intermountain West. Recent management efforts have largely focused on shooting, burrow fumigation, and occasionally grain baits. However, these tools are often either too costly to implement or ineffective. In 2015, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation approved a Special Local Needs permit to use zinc phosphide-coated cabbage for managing Belding’s ground squirrels in Siskiyou, Modoc, and Lassen Counties. This baiting strategy could provide a cost effective and efficacious management approach, although efficacy data were lacking. Therefore, we established a study to assess the importance of spatial variability of location sites, prebaiting, and ground squirrel density on efficacy of zinc phosphide-coated cabbage for Belding’s ground squirrel management across impacted hay-growing regions in northeastern CA. We also assessed potential differences in bait mixing strategies (in a tub via hand mixing vs. the use of a commercial-style cement mixer) on targeted zinc phosphide concentrations, as well as the degradation rate of zinc phosphide and moisture content of cabbage under environmental conditions. We did not detect a significant difference between hand and mechanical mixing. However, mechanical mixing was closer to the target level (mean = 101% vs. 115% for mechanical and hand mixing, respectively), was more precise, and allowed for the mixing of larger batches. As such, mechanical mixing was the strategy we used for field application. Furthermore, both moisture content (0.29% loss per hour) and zinc phosphide concentration (31% loss in 48 hours) steadily declined during a three-day observation period, indicating a fairly minimal window of exposure for nontarget species. See Baldwin et al. (2018) for additional details on lab testing of mixing methods and residual zinc phosphide levels associated with cabbage bait. During field trials, we found that prebaiting increased overall efficacy by approximately 18%, with efficacy 23% greater in the western (eastern Siskiyou and western Modoc Counties) vs. eastern portions (south-central Modoc County) of the study area. The tested bait was also substantially more efficacious when initial ground squirrel populations were larger, presumably due to a greater need for forage at high densities. Ground squirrel activity was relatively consistent throughout the day, although peaks were noted from 09:00 to 11:00 and from 13:00 to 15:00. Consumption of cabbage bait diminished throughout the day after initial application. Consumption was again high the following morning, but again diminished throughout the remainder of the day. Ideal times for bait application were likely before 09:00 and again before 13:00, although ground squirrels continued to feed on bait throughout the day. Zinc phosphide-coated cabbage bait appears to be an effective management option when prebaiting is used in Siskiyou County and in western portions of Modoc County. Additional research is needed to determine methods to increase efficacy in central and eastern Modoc County. See Baldwin et al. (2019) for additional details on this study.

Riparian meadows occupy a small proportion of the public lands in the western United States but they provide numerous ecosystem services, including the production of high-quality forage for livestock grazing. Modern conservation management strategies (e.g., reductions in livestock stocking rates and adoption of new riparian grazing standards) have been implemented to better balance riparian conservation and livestock production objectives on publicly managed lands. We examined potential relationships between long-term changes in plant community, livestock grazing pressure and environmental conditions at two spatial scales in meadows grazed under conservation management strategies. Changes in plant community were not associated with either livestock stocking rate or precipitation at the grazing allotment (i.e., administrative) scale. Alternatively, both grazing pressure and precipitation had significant, albeit modest, associations with changes in plant community at the meadow (i.e., ecological site) scale. These results suggest that reductions in stocking rate have improved the balance between riparian conservation and livestock production goals. However, associations between elevation, site wetness, precipitation, and changes in plant community suggest that changing climate conditions (e.g., reduced snowpack and changes in timing of snowmelt) could trigger shifts in plant communities, potentially impacting both conservation and agricultural services (e.g., livestock and forage production). Therefore, adaptive, site-specific management strategies are required to meet grazing pressure limits and safeguard ecosystem services within individual meadows, especially under more variable climate conditions.

While the direct economic impacts of gray wolves and other predators on rangeland livestock production are relatively easy to measure, indirect impacts (e.g., reduced livestock productivity and increased expense) may be more economically significant. We initiated a long-term (10 year), longitudinal survey of rangeland cattle, sheep and goat producers in northern California to quantify the direct and indirect impacts from gray wolves, which are increasing in numbers in the state, and other large carnivores on rangeland livestock production. During winter/spring 2017, we hosted seven producer-researcher workshops across northern California, featuring livestock-predator conflict experts. At these workshops, we collected the first round of survey data from 90 livestock operations. Our initial survey results document the adoption rates, efficacy and cost of a variety of commonly used livestock protection tools on rangeland livestock operations at a variety of scales.

Conflicts between livestock and predators are perhaps inevitable, especially on extensively managed rangelands This publication helps producers evaluate livestock lethal and non-lethal protection tools that may fit their site-specific needs.

Chronic viral infections increase severity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) coinfection. Here, we examined how chronic viral infections alter the pulmonary microenvironment to foster coinfection and worsen disease severity. We developed a coordinated system of chronic virus and Mtb infection that induced central clinical manifestations of coinfection, including increased Mtb burden, extra-pulmonary dissemination, and heightened mortality. These disease states were not due to chronic virus-induced immunosuppression or exhaustion; rather, increased amounts of the cytokine TNFα initially arrested pulmonary Mtb growth, impeding dendritic cell mediated antigen transportation to the lymph node and subverting immune-surveillance, allowing bacterial sanctuary. The cryptic Mtb replication delayed CD4 T cell priming, redirecting T helper (Th) 1 toward Th17 differentiation and increasing pulmonary neutrophilia, which diminished long-term survival. Temporally restoring CD4 T cell induction overcame these diverse disease sequelae to enhance Mtb control. Thus, Mtb co-opts TNFα from the chronic inflammatory environment to subvert immune-surveillance, avert early immune function, and foster long-term coinfection.