Sustaining rangeland ecosystems is as much a social process as an ecological one. It requires application of many of the same principles as those used in planning for wildlife reserves, but the tenets of conservation biology need to be applied to conserve social as well as ecological structural elements and processes. For some rangelands, a crucial element in a sustainable, culturally meaningful, and ecologically rich landscape is ranching, which is at once a collection of ecological processes and interactions, and an expression of human community. Results of several surveys and studies are used to highlight the "culture clashes" that occur at the ecological and social edges of landscape elements. Unfortunately, differing expectations of what conserved areas should be like has hindered the creation of alliances between environmentalists and ranchers that might prevent the degradation of the landscape by uncontrolled residential and urban development. In one California case, successful planning and alliance building led to the conservation of ranchlands. Zoning, conservation easements, political and financial support for the livestock industry, community leadership, and recognition of the heritage value of rural lifeways all played a part in this success. Similar patterns have been noted in other parts of the West. To conserve some of the most productive and biodiverse rangeland landscapes, ranching must not just be tolerated as a means to an environmental end, but valued and planned for, ecologically, socially, and economically. Rangeland professionals have an important role to play in the development of sustainable social relationships that support sustainable rangelands.

Results of a 1985 survey of California hardwood rangeland landowners were used to develop a multi-agency research and extension program known as the Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program. In 1992, the same properties were re-surveyed. Although the results cannot prove the program is the sole or direct agent of change, program-sponsored education and research ahned at encouraging oak rangeland owners to change oak management practices is reflected in changes in key landowner behaviors. Program-sponsored research showed that intermediate levels of oak canopy cover did not significantly reduce forage production. Concurrently, landowners have signiiicantly reduced the clearing of oaks for forage production. Other significant changes are reduction of cutting of living oaks for any reason, reduced cutting of oaks for fuelwood, increased use of oak promoting practices, and a growing awareness of the need to be concerned about the status of oaks. Landowners who were aware of the resource benefits of having oaks, or who believed oaks were threatened, or who had been in contact with a natural resource advisory service were significantly more likely to carry out oak-promoting practices. Between 1985 and 1992, many properties changed hands: 24% of parcels were sold but remained intact, while an additional 11% were subdivided. As was found in 1985, owners of smaller properties manage for different and more diverse goals than those of huger properties. The changing pattern of hardwood rangeland land ownership wiil have an impact on education and conservation programs.

On the Ground • California's Mediterranean climate zone supports grasslands that are biologically diverse. • Livestock grazing is being increasingly used to promote native species diversity at both the pasture and landscape scales. • Several federally and state-listed vertebrates and insects respond positively to grazing to improve habitat by opening and lowering grassland vegetation. More work is needed on enhancement of native plants. • Research results need to be more extensively applied, tested, and monitored under variable conditions.

Woody plant encroachment into open grasslands occurs worldwide and causes multiple ecological and management impacts. Prescribed fire could be used to conserve grassland habitat but often has limited efficacy because many woody plants resprout after fire and rapidly reestablish abundance. If fire‐induced mortality could be increased, prescribed fire would be a more effective management tool. In California's central coast, shrub encroachment, especially of Baccharis pilularis (coyote brush), is converting coastal prairie into shrub‐dominated communities, with a consequent loss of native herbaceous species and open grassland habitat. B. pilularis has not been successfully controlled with single prescribed fire events because the shrub resprouts and reestablishes cover within a few years. We investigated whether two consecutive annual burns would control B. pilularis by killing resprouting shrubs, without reducing native herbaceous species or encouraging invasive plants. As expected, resprouting did occur; however, 2 years after the second burn, B. pilularis cover on burned plots was only 41% of the cover on unburned plots. Mortality of B. pilularis more than doubled following the second burn, likely maintaining a reduction in B. pilularis cover for longer than a single burn would have. Three native coastal prairie perennial grasses did not appear to be adversely affected by the two burns, nor did the burns result in increased cover of invasive species. Managers wanting to restore coastal prairie following B. pilularis encroachment should consider two consecutive annual burns, especially if moderate fire intensity is achievable.

Collaborative adaptive management (CAM) is a process for making decisions about the environment in the face of uncertainty and conflict. Scientists have a central role to play in these decisions. However, while scientists are well-trained to reduce uncertainty by discovering new knowledge, most lack experience with the means to mitigate conflict in contested situations. To address this gap, we drew from our efforts coordinating a large CAM effort, the Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project, to offer advice to our fellow environmental scientists. Key challenges posed by CAM include the confusion caused by multiple institutional cultures, the need to provide information at management-relevant scales, frequent turn-over in participants, fluctuations in enthusiasm among key constituencies, and diverse definitions of success among partners. Effective strategies included a dedication to consistency, a commitment to transparency, the willingness to communicate frequently via multiple forums, and the capacity for flexibility.CAM represents a promising, new model for scientific engagement with the public. Learning the lessons of effective collaboration in environmental management is an essential task to achieve the shared goal of a sustainable future.

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Over the last century, northern coastal scrub has encroached into open grasslands along the central California coast, increasing fire risk in coastal wildland–urban interfaces. Understanding prehistoric ecological conditions is crucial for fire mitigation projects. Current estimates of these conditions in coastal California grasslands and shrublands are largely speculative because tree ring data, lake sediment evidence and ethnographic information are sparse. Phytolith analysis is an alternative palaeoecological tool that has been successfully used to reconstruct the extent of prehistoric grass cover in California. Our study uses phytolith analysis of soil samples from the East Bay hills of the San Francisco Bay region as a novel approach to estimate prehistoric grassland distribution and infer fire frequency in central coastal California. Our data strongly indicate that many areas in the region were dominated by perennial bunchgrasses for at least several hundred years before European contact. Because grass-dominated grasslands in the East Bay hills are disturbance-dependent, our data suggest prehistoric fire frequency was of the order of 5 years or less in the region. Phytolith analysis is a useful technique for prehistoric fire regime reconstruction for grasslands and shrublands worldwide, leading to improved, data-based land management.

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