California's grasslands are a vital part of a healthy ecosystem, supporting native plants and endangered animal species. Yet the vast majority of them - more than 90 percent - have been lost to development and invasive non-native plants.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Natural Resources Agency, UC Merced, the California Rangeland Trust, Audubon California, and Point Blue Conservation Science jointly hosted a summit at the university that focused on nature‑based solutions (NBS) for California's grasslands.
State Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross told the summit there is important work happening to restore and conserve these important lands.
"With funding and plans and climate-smart ag practices … this is a very good time to come together, to learn from one another what has worked, what have been the biggest challenges and what have been the biggest obstacles to this work," Ross said.
UC Merced is directly involved in some of this work, managing 27,000 acres of vernal pool-grassland habitat, including the approximately 6,500-acre Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. The university's Agricultural Experiment Station, established in 2022, is aimed at advancing innovation, fostering sustainability and building climate resilience.
The summit was one in a series around the state this year. Others have focused on farmlands, shrublands, chapparal, coasts, forests, mountain meadows and deserts. The final two summits, aimed at communities and inland wetlands, will come later this year.
State officials, landowners, conservation leaders, tribal members and industry representatives attended the summit, which included breakout sessions on topics such as funding and supply chains, conservation tools and grazing management.
Everyone has a role to play in caring for these vital lands, said Joshua Viers, associate vice chancellor of interdisciplinary research and strategic initiatives at UC Merced.
"Our grasslands and working lands connect climate resilience with water, biodiversity, food production and rural livelihoods," Viers said. "California's golden fields represent both the landscapes we treasure and the commitment we make to sustain them."
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, faculty director of UC Merced's Earth Institute, moderated a panel on the value of grasslands from the perspectives of a rancher, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and a tribal liaison.
"California's grasslands are among the most important and often underappreciated landscapes," Berhe said. "They sustain ranching. They are working landscapes. They matter significantly economically, and they have cultural significance, including to native and rural communities."
Diane Bohna grazes cattle on UC Merced grasslands. She said it's a delicate balance to maintain the land, but in the long run it's worth it.
"Taking care of the land first will in turn take care of the cattle and all," Bohna said.
Julie Vance, manager of Region 4 for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, agreed. She said there are opportunities to bring back more lost grasslands.
She said one option involves taking about a million acres out of irrigated agriculture.
"A lot of it's getting converted to solar, but there is discussion about bringing some of those back to grazing land," Vance said. "It's exciting to make lemonade out of lemons. Taking that land out of production is hard on communities and landowners. There are some opportunities to turn the clock back to undo some of the damage to this historic habitat."
That habitat is vital to the creatures the grasslands support as well as the humans who live around it, said Heather Bernikoff, a pollinator and wildlife habitat program manager and a tribal liaison for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts.
"We are really at a crossroads with climate change, with how we function," Bernikoff said. "We need to be thinking as a team about how we save this for future generations."
These landscapes face significant challenges.
"Warming, drought, and pressure on the land call us to renew our commitment to the landscapes that sustain us," Viers said. "Through conservation, restoration, and enduring partnerships, we can turn climate ambition into practical stewardship, guided by evidence and sustained across generations."
The state is supporting that process, Ross said.
"Never in my life have I seen policy and funding aligned like they are today," she said, adding that nature-based solutions can be part of California's effort to reduce carbon emissions.
"We want to make sure we're doing all we can with new knowledge we have and discovery that happens on campuses like this … we want to accelerate this work."
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