The Central Coast Rangeland Coalition will hold its upcoming meeting on April 16, 2026, at The Nature Conservancy’s Las Piletas Ranch Preserve. The preserve is a 13,500-acre working cattle ranch that serves as a site for conservation efforts and research. Located near the north Carrizo Plain and the headwaters of the Salinas River watershed, it is home to wildlife such as pronghorn, tule elk, San Joaquin kit fox, and several rare plant species.
The Nature Conservancy works with neighboring Carrizo Ranch to achieve annual management goals through cattle grazing. Both organizations use various technologies for planning, managing, and monitoring wildlife habitats, grazing practices, forage availability, and water resources.
Participants will gather at the ranch headquarters near California Valley. Registration is open until April 3. For those traveling from the north, Highway 1 has reopened.
The event begins at 8:00 a.m. with registration and coffee. Ethan Inlander from The Nature Conservancy will provide an orientation to the site at 8:30 a.m., followed by small group introductions. At 9:15 a.m., team members Ethan Inlander, Dillon Brook, and Gabe Runte will discuss grazing planning and adaptation strategies on Las Piletas Ranch.
A session at 10:30 a.m. will focus on virtual fencing technology with input from researchers (to be determined) and ranchers Michael Dennis and Thomas Workman. Attendees will break into small groups for discussion before lunch at noon.
Afternoon field visits begin at 1:00 p.m., covering topics such as grazing for fuel reduction, conservation grazing in the North Carrizo Ecological Reserve, practical demonstrations of virtual fencing hardware in the field, and cost-share programs for water developments and fencing.
The day concludes with small group discussions starting at 3:50 p.m., closing remarks shortly after 4:00 p.m., informal exploration of the ranch after the meeting ends at 4:30 p.m., an optional barbecue dinner provided by the San Luis Obispo County Cattlemen’s Association for pre-registered guests at 5:30 p.m., and departure around 7:00 p.m.
According to organizers, “Meeting Goal: To explore existing technologies for ranching operations and monitoring that assist with both livestock management and habitat/wildlife management.”
“Meeting Outcomes:
• Attendees will be provided with an overview about what kinds of technology are available to improve ranching operations and monitoring.
• Attendees will understand the basics of how these technologies work, and also costs, benefits, and challenges.
• Attendees will be provided an overview about technical and financial assistance programs available to help them purchase and use some of these technologies.”
Hotel accommodations are available in Paso Robles or San Luis Obispo. Limited camping spaces may be arranged at Las Piletas Ranch’s campground by contacting Ethan Inlander directly.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), affiliated with the University of California (https://ucanr.edu/), supports statewide communities through science-based practices aimed at improving lives across California (https://ucanr.edu/). UC ANR maintains nine Research and Extension Centers that serve as living laboratories in different ecosystems throughout California (https://ucanr.edu/). The organization operates offices in all 58 counties along with these centers (https://ucanr.edu/) while providing expertise in agriculture research initiatives that benefit farming practices as well as environmental conservation efforts like wildfire protection (https://ucanr.edu/). Glenda Humiston serves as vice president of UC ANR (https://ucanr.edu/).
For more than a century UC ANR has offered resources related to nutrition education, food systems development, youth programming—delivering University of California knowledge through outreach initiatives statewide (https://ucanr.edu/).