The Mountain Lion Foundation was honored to participate in the 37th annual California Small Farm Conference. This year’s theme was “Rooted in Place.” The conference was a hybrid model of online workshops held over five days, with regional in-person meet-ups and field days. The Conference is a project of CAFF: Community Alliance with Family Farmers.

“Founded in 1978, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) is a California-based nonprofit that builds sustainable food and farming systems through local and statewide policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs to initiate institutionalized change. Our programs address current problems and challenges in food and farming systems, creating more resilient family farms, communities, and ecosystems. We work to support family farmers and serve community members throughout the state, including consumers, food service directors, schoolchildren and low-income populations with the aim of growing a more resilient, just and abundant food system for all Californians.”

Our Coexistence Programs Manager is a former board member of CAFF, and though Gowan’s board term has ended, their commitment to the mission is ongoing. Gowan hosted an in depth, extended version of the “Ranching with Wildlife” presentation they have given for public audiences in the past, focused on commercial farmers and ranchers getting a grounded idea of the practical, ecological, and legal landscape of coexisting alongside apex carnivores like the mountain lion in California. The talk pulled from cutting edge rangeland science as well as field-tested experience and answered frequently asked questions that arise in ranching communities.

For many agricultural professionals, they may go through their entire education and work experience without ever being offered detailed education on these topics. Farmers and ranchers are some of the people who are most likely to encounter mountain lions in their daily work, so bringing this education to them, in a respectful presentation from a working peer, is a tangible way to reduce conflicts and to give people a compassionate, workable and legal set of responses to take when conflicts do arise. The presentation was well received, with one attendee commenting: “This was a wonderful presentation. You are so knowledgeable and such a dynamic speaker. Great job and thank you!!”