Environmental Stewardship
and Sustainable Agriculture
Our objective at Marble Peaks Ranch is to be responsible stewards of our land. While we have legal ownership, we view our role as a guardianship, with responsibility to care for the land and its native flora and fauna. We are committed to protecting the integrity of the ecosystems on our property.
Our ranch is in a unique location sharing borders on two sides with the Klamath National Forest and on another side with the Bureau of Land Management. Our ranch land connects wildlife populations on these Federal lands. We are only a few miles from the huge tracts of protected lands in both the Russian Wilderness Area and timberland owned by Ecotrust Forest Management. We maintain eighty-five percent of our 454 acre property in its natural state. Our house and barn only occupy 5 acres and our agricultural land is 65 acres of irrigated pasture.
On our property we have three primary plant communities - coniferous forest, oak woodland, and riparian woodland. The dominant tree species in the coniferous forest is ponderosa pine, with Douglas fir and incense cedar in the moist drainages, and sugar pine at higher elevations. The oak woodland consists mostly of California black and California white oak. The riparian woodland is predominantly white alder and willows. Our ranch is home to an abundant array of native mammals. We have personally observed black bear, mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, gray fox, raccoon, striped skunk, mink, long-tailed weasel, Roosevelt elk, mule deer, black-tailed hare, western gray squirrel, California ground squirrel, pocket gopher, California vole, and deer mouse. Our bird species list is definitely an undercount, but it includes Canada goose, mallard duck, common merganser, California quail, Anna’s hummingbird, kildeer, great blue heron, turkey vulture, golden eagle, northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, great horned owl, California quail, mourning dove, great blue heron, belted kingfisher, acorn woodpecker, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, black phoebe, loggerhead shrike, Steller's jay, black-billed magpie, American crow, mountain chickadee, cliff swallow, American dipper, western bluebird, American robin, dark-eyed junco, spotted towhee, western meadowlark, red-winged blackbird, Brewer’s blackbird, western tanager, lazuli bunting. Our resident reptiles include the western diamondback rattlesnake, gopher snake, garter snake, rubber boa, northwestern fence lizard, northwestern alligator lizard, western skink, and northwestern pond turtle. Frequently observed amphibians are the Pacific treefrog, western toad, and coastal giant salamander.
Our ranch sustains over a mile of healthy riparian habitat along Miners Creek. Miners Creek is part of the Scott River watershed, which is a tributary of the Klamath River. The shaded pools and gravel beds provide critical habitat for threatened Coho salmon and steelhead. In order to protect these species, we worked with the Siskiyou Resource Conservation District to install a fish screen at the point where we divert irrigation water from Miners Creek. The screen prevents fish from entering our irrigation ditch and reroutes them back to the creek. Along the boundary with Miners Creek, we fenced our pasture and installed stock water tanks in all our paddocks, to control activity of cattle and sheep in the riparian environment, as part of the Conservation Reserve Program of the Natural Resource Conservation Service. During summer and special spring events, we lease water to the Scott River Water Trust when requested. By reducing or eliminating our agricultural water diversion during critical periods we help to increase stream flow in Miners Creek and the survival of salmon and steelhead. Where our irrigation water flows back into Miners Creek, we developed a seasonal wetland which provides breeding habitat for hundreds of frogs and toads.
For us, the essential purpose of our forest and woodland is twofold: to provide wildlife habitat, and sustain a carbon sink to absorb excess atmospheric carbon dioxide. We maintain as much timber as possible and only harvest timber as a means of improving forest health. Climate-change induced drought and pine bark beetle infestations have impacted our forest. We remove dead and dying trees as necessary via the CALFIRE permit program to reduce risk of wildfire. We are exploring a tree thinning program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to enhance overall tree survival in our changing climate.
We endeavour to engage in sustainable agricultural practices on our ranch. We practice low intensity, low impact grazing. We graze sheep year round but cattle only in the spring and early summer when sufficient forage is available. Our pasture is divided into four paddocks so we can rotate livestock. We move cattle and sheep among the paddocks on different schedules to prevent overgrazing. We never apply chemical herbicides on our pastures. Weeds are controlled mechanically with repeated mowings and manually by hand cutting and digging. We do not till the soil, which preserves the deep root systems of perennial grasses. To improve fertility, we promote nitrogen-fixing legume species and utilize a harrow to distribute sheep and cow manure. We control rodents with live traps instead of rodenticides which are toxic to wildlife. Our irrigation method is flood irrigation, that relies on gravity and manual labor for distribution through ditches and furrows, without use of fossil fuel powered pumps.
Our fencing is designed to be wildlife friendly. We removed old barbed wire fences and installed woven wire and smooth wire, to avoid injuring wildlife as they pass over it. We created openings in the fence line for large mammals. The openings allow movement across our property as well as providing access for animals to come down off adjacent Klamath National Forest and BLM land to drink water from Miners Creek.
Our goal at the ranch is to coexist with native wildlife. In order to raise sheep in an environment with an abundance of wild predators, we rely on multiple techniques for predator deterrence. We employ livestock guardian dogs as the primary protectors of our flock. We breed our own Anatolian Shepherd Dogs, an ancient guardian breed originating in Turkey. The Anatolians identify their territory to other predators by patrolling, barking, and scent marking both day and night. We hear them engage in bouts of mutual howling with coyotes. They will chase any predator that enters the pasture but this is a very rare event. Via direction observation, game camera photos, and scat distribution, we know the predators travel nearby but avoid the pasture. We also utilize low wattage lighting and motion sensor solar lighting in around our pastures to discourage predators from approaching the pasture and barn. During lambing season, when large numbers of vulnerable lambs provide a strong temptation, we put all the sheep in a secure barn every night. In over ten years of sheep ranching, we have only lost two sheep to predators.
Our ranch is in a unique location sharing borders on two sides with the Klamath National Forest and on another side with the Bureau of Land Management. Our ranch land connects wildlife populations on these Federal lands. We are only a few miles from the huge tracts of protected lands in both the Russian Wilderness Area and timberland owned by Ecotrust Forest Management. We maintain eighty-five percent of our 454 acre property in its natural state. Our house and barn only occupy 5 acres and our agricultural land is 65 acres of irrigated pasture.
On our property we have three primary plant communities - coniferous forest, oak woodland, and riparian woodland. The dominant tree species in the coniferous forest is ponderosa pine, with Douglas fir and incense cedar in the moist drainages, and sugar pine at higher elevations. The oak woodland consists mostly of California black and California white oak. The riparian woodland is predominantly white alder and willows. Our ranch is home to an abundant array of native mammals. We have personally observed black bear, mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, gray fox, raccoon, striped skunk, mink, long-tailed weasel, Roosevelt elk, mule deer, black-tailed hare, western gray squirrel, California ground squirrel, pocket gopher, California vole, and deer mouse. Our bird species list is definitely an undercount, but it includes Canada goose, mallard duck, common merganser, California quail, Anna’s hummingbird, kildeer, great blue heron, turkey vulture, golden eagle, northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, great horned owl, California quail, mourning dove, great blue heron, belted kingfisher, acorn woodpecker, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, black phoebe, loggerhead shrike, Steller's jay, black-billed magpie, American crow, mountain chickadee, cliff swallow, American dipper, western bluebird, American robin, dark-eyed junco, spotted towhee, western meadowlark, red-winged blackbird, Brewer’s blackbird, western tanager, lazuli bunting. Our resident reptiles include the western diamondback rattlesnake, gopher snake, garter snake, rubber boa, northwestern fence lizard, northwestern alligator lizard, western skink, and northwestern pond turtle. Frequently observed amphibians are the Pacific treefrog, western toad, and coastal giant salamander.
Our ranch sustains over a mile of healthy riparian habitat along Miners Creek. Miners Creek is part of the Scott River watershed, which is a tributary of the Klamath River. The shaded pools and gravel beds provide critical habitat for threatened Coho salmon and steelhead. In order to protect these species, we worked with the Siskiyou Resource Conservation District to install a fish screen at the point where we divert irrigation water from Miners Creek. The screen prevents fish from entering our irrigation ditch and reroutes them back to the creek. Along the boundary with Miners Creek, we fenced our pasture and installed stock water tanks in all our paddocks, to control activity of cattle and sheep in the riparian environment, as part of the Conservation Reserve Program of the Natural Resource Conservation Service. During summer and special spring events, we lease water to the Scott River Water Trust when requested. By reducing or eliminating our agricultural water diversion during critical periods we help to increase stream flow in Miners Creek and the survival of salmon and steelhead. Where our irrigation water flows back into Miners Creek, we developed a seasonal wetland which provides breeding habitat for hundreds of frogs and toads.
For us, the essential purpose of our forest and woodland is twofold: to provide wildlife habitat, and sustain a carbon sink to absorb excess atmospheric carbon dioxide. We maintain as much timber as possible and only harvest timber as a means of improving forest health. Climate-change induced drought and pine bark beetle infestations have impacted our forest. We remove dead and dying trees as necessary via the CALFIRE permit program to reduce risk of wildfire. We are exploring a tree thinning program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to enhance overall tree survival in our changing climate.
We endeavour to engage in sustainable agricultural practices on our ranch. We practice low intensity, low impact grazing. We graze sheep year round but cattle only in the spring and early summer when sufficient forage is available. Our pasture is divided into four paddocks so we can rotate livestock. We move cattle and sheep among the paddocks on different schedules to prevent overgrazing. We never apply chemical herbicides on our pastures. Weeds are controlled mechanically with repeated mowings and manually by hand cutting and digging. We do not till the soil, which preserves the deep root systems of perennial grasses. To improve fertility, we promote nitrogen-fixing legume species and utilize a harrow to distribute sheep and cow manure. We control rodents with live traps instead of rodenticides which are toxic to wildlife. Our irrigation method is flood irrigation, that relies on gravity and manual labor for distribution through ditches and furrows, without use of fossil fuel powered pumps.
Our fencing is designed to be wildlife friendly. We removed old barbed wire fences and installed woven wire and smooth wire, to avoid injuring wildlife as they pass over it. We created openings in the fence line for large mammals. The openings allow movement across our property as well as providing access for animals to come down off adjacent Klamath National Forest and BLM land to drink water from Miners Creek.
Our goal at the ranch is to coexist with native wildlife. In order to raise sheep in an environment with an abundance of wild predators, we rely on multiple techniques for predator deterrence. We employ livestock guardian dogs as the primary protectors of our flock. We breed our own Anatolian Shepherd Dogs, an ancient guardian breed originating in Turkey. The Anatolians identify their territory to other predators by patrolling, barking, and scent marking both day and night. We hear them engage in bouts of mutual howling with coyotes. They will chase any predator that enters the pasture but this is a very rare event. Via direction observation, game camera photos, and scat distribution, we know the predators travel nearby but avoid the pasture. We also utilize low wattage lighting and motion sensor solar lighting in around our pastures to discourage predators from approaching the pasture and barn. During lambing season, when large numbers of vulnerable lambs provide a strong temptation, we put all the sheep in a secure barn every night. In over ten years of sheep ranching, we have only lost two sheep to predators.