Marble Peaks Ranch

Marble Peaks Ranch is a family business, owned and operated by Nancy Burns and Steve Edel, and our children, Tristan and Kendra.  Our ranch is located in the remote and beautiful Scott Valley, near the small town of Etna in northern California.  The property is bordered by the Klamath National Forest, which contains both the Marble Mountain Wilderness and Russian Wilderness Areas.

Our objective is to be commendable stewards of our land and shepherds of our flock.  We are committed to sustainable, low-impact agricultural practices.  We utilize traditional flood irrigation, powered by gravity and our own labor.  We divert only the water necessary to irrigate our primary pasture and utilize a fish screen and bypass to protect native salmon and steelhead.  Weed control is performed by our sheep or manually by us.  We do not utilize chemical herbicides or pesticides on our pastures.  Our sheep are grass-fed and out on pasture nearly 350 days a year, except when the weather is extreme.  In the winter months, their feed is augmented with locally-grown alfalfa hay.  Pregnant and lactating ewes are supplemented with grain. Our sheep never receive artificial growth supplements, hormones, or prophylactic antibiotics.  Predator deterrence is managed by our Anatolian Shepherd Dogs who vigorously guard our flock througout the day and night.  We also move the flock inside the barn each night.  Our fencing plan provided corridors for wildlife passage around our pasture.  We only utilize 15% of our property as developed pasture, the remainder is forested with ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, incense cedar, and black and white oaks.  The forest habitat supports an array of wildlife including black bear, moutain lion, bobcat, coyote, gray fox, elk, mule deer, black-tailed hare, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, wild turkey, and many others.