Disaster Livestock Access Program established for Yuba County

Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·2 min read

May 1—Officials with the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) said Monday that a Disaster Livestock Access Program has been established for Yuba, Placer, and Nevada counties.

Ranchers and agricultural departments within those three counties, along with the UCCE, created the program to "facilitate livestock and human safety before, during, and after wildfire and other emergencies," officials said.

"Evacuating livestock from commercial ranching operations may not be possible in the event of a major incident, due to scale of operation," UCCE officials said. "Sheltering-in-place may be the best and safest alternative. Safe access by trained and qualified ranch personnel is critical to livestock welfare, firefighter safety, and public safety."

UCCE said the "geographic scope" of the project aligned with the Cal Fire administrative unit for the region. Those that are Livestock Access Passholders may be permitted into evacuation zones, or other restricted areas, to provide feed, water, medical treatment, and other care to commercial livestock.

"Qualified Commercial Livestock Operator: For the purposes of this program, a commercial livestock operator is defined as owning/managing 50+ head of livestock (including in utero, e.g., 25 bred cows), 100+ poultry or rabbits, or 50+ beehives that reside in Placer, Nevada, or Yuba County for at least a portion of the year, or a person who, through an agreement with that owner of livestock, has authority and is responsible to oversee the care and well-being of the livestock," UCCE officials said. "This program applies to commercially raised species of livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, rabbits, llamas, alpacas, and bees. 'Commercially raised' means the livestock are raised as part of a business."

UCCE said to enroll in this program, a Commercial Livestock Operator must provide contact information, APNs and/or physical addresses of grazing sites, general season(s) of use, livestock description and count, and other information by completing the online form at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=40428. For those that need assistance completing the online registration, contact Dan Macon at 530-889-7385 or dmacon@ucanr.edu.

UCCE said that ranch owners, family members, and managerial employees are eligible to participate. Employees who receive hourly pay are not eligible.

A new Commercial Livestock Operator also must complete an initial four-hour training. Training opportunities will be offered in late May and early June in Nevada, Placer, and Yuba counties, and applicants may attend any one of these regardless of the county of residence. If an applicant received a pass in 2022, then only a one-hour virtual training session will need to be completed.