CALIFORNIA CATTLEMAN WEEKLY

May 26, 2026

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SWRCB Imposes Scott River Watershed Curtailments
The State Water Resources Control Board announced on Thursday that it was “reinstating curtailments for all surface water rights in the Scott River watershed” pursuant to emergency regulations governing minimum flows for the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds. The SWRCB reported that curtailments were necessitated by flows dropping below 150 cubic feet per second – the minimum flow target throughout the month of May under the emergency regulations – as measured at the Fort Jones gage.

Yesterday, SWRCB announced that flows had improved, and accordingly the Board has conditionally suspended curtailments for the most senior water rights holders in the watershed, identified as “Group 8” (and listed at the end of the Board’s announcement).

“Minimum livestock watering” continues to be exempt from curtailments “if the appropriate form(s) is submitted to the State Water Board” (though “forms previously submitted for the Order are still active and do not need to be resubmitted”).

For more information, see the SWRCB’s most recent announcement. Ranchers in the Scott River watershed are encouraged to sign up for direct email alerts from the SWRCB by selecting “Scott-Shasta Drought and Flow Efforts” under “Water Rights” within the SWRCB’s email subscription list and clicking “submit.”

Producers Encouraged to Complete Livestock Veterinary Care Access Survey
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has partnered with California Farm Bureau to gather feedback on veterinary access throughout the state. According to California Farm Bureau, “The information collected may help support future veterinary shortage designations and strengthen participation in the USDA’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program.” Cattle ranchers and other livestock producers are encouraged to take the survey no matter their level of access to veterinary care.

To take the survey, click here. The survey closes June 30.

Sign Up to Attend PLC Virtual Roundtable June 11
California public lands permittees gathered in Susanville last week for a frank discussion with Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service leadership about a wide array of grazing and range program issues.

If you couldn’t make the Susanville meeting (or any of the Public Lands Council’s other 10 roundtable discussions hosted throughout the west in recent weeks), there is one more opportunity to engage the agencies: PLC is hosting a virtual roundtable June 11 from 10:00am- Noon (Pacific time).

Advance registration is required. To register, click here (participation is limited to active federal lands permittees). For additional details on PLC’s grazing roundtables, see the April 13 edition of California Cattleman Weekly.

Governor Newsom Releases “May Revise” of Proposed Budget
Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom detailed the “May Revise” of his proposed 20267/27 State Budget, which proposes total spending of $349.9 billion over the next fiscal year. With regard to CCA’s priority budget requests, the May Revise does propose funding for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s “Coexisting with Wildlife initiative” (a paltry $1 million) but does not propose additional funding for CDFW’s Wolf Program. CCA’s support for Wolf Program funding has generated substantial bipartisan, bicameral support in the Legislature, and CCA will continue aggressively lobby for Program funding ahead of a June 15 Constitutional deadline to pass a budget bill. For additional information, see last week’s edition of California Cattleman Weekly.

CDFW Releases 2025 Annual Wolf Report
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has released its 2025 Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Annual Report. According to the report, California had a minimum population of 55 wolves at the end of 2025, a 10% increase over the prior year’s minimum count of 50. CDFW reports that there were only three breeding pairs at year’s end, as the Beyem Seyo Pack had been lethally removed and the Lassen and Yowlumni packs had “small or unsuccessful litters.” While the year-end number of breeding pairs fell one short of the benchmark for Phase 2 of wolf management under the Conservation Plan, CDFW notes that “most other population metrics…point to continuing recovery. As a result, Phase 2 will continue through 2026.” For additional information, see CDFW’s report or last week’s edition of California Cattleman Weekly.

UC Berkeley & UCCE Release Survey Seeking Feedback on Wolf-Livestock Compensation
UC-Berkeley and UC Cooperative Extension are seeking input from livestock producers and interested parties who live in California on the future of wolf-livestock compensation. All survey responses are anonymous, and any data collected will be securely housed at UC and shared only in aggregate form with CDFW and the public. The survey can be accessed at the following link, takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and will close on June 11.

Click here to take the survey.

This survey is part of CDFW’s ongoing review of the current wolf-livestock compensation program and is intended to gather feedback to help improve the pilot program established in 2021. It is separate from the survey distributed by UC in July 2025.

Upcoming CCA Events

Upcoming Industry Events

CCA in the News

California Cattle Leader Says Ranchers Must Unite to Protect Industry’s Future Western Ag Network “Among those attending [the Common Ground Coalition regional summit] was California Cattlemen’s Association President Rick Roberti, who says the coalition’s focus on bringing producers together around shared priorities is badly needed in today’s agricultural landscape. ‘I think we understand that there’s some things we agree on — four or five issues that we can get along with,’ Roberti said. Let’s work on those things and then worry about some of the other ones later.’” To continue reading, click here.

Grizzly bear study bill advances amid regional concern The Plumas Sun “Hadwick’s office said an April 7 hearing brought forward strong advocacy from North State leaders and stakeholders, including Sierra County Sheriff Mike Fisher, Lassen County Sheriff Jon McGarva, Trinity County Sheriff Tim Saxon, El Dorado County Sheriff Jeff Leikauf, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue and California Cattlemen’s Association President Rick Roberti, who lives in Plumas County. These leaders spoke to the real-world impacts of predator management on rural communities.” To continue reading, click here.

Grizzly bears could return to California after a 100-year absence KVPR “‘While we’re still struggling with how to effectively manage depredations by wolves and mountain lions, we don’t think now is the time to reintroduce a new apex predator to California,’ said Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs for the California Cattlemen’s Association. ‘If we were to introduce grizzlies, it would only be something that we could envision happening after we get a handle on our existing apex predator populations. And even then it probably wouldn’t be prudent.’” To continue reading, click here.

Industry News

UC Davis Opens Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation UC Davis “The University of California, Davis, celebrated the grand opening of the Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation, a state-of-the-art facility designed to transform agricultural research, teaching and outreach while accelerating solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges in food systems and sustainability.” To continue reading, click here.

Rep. Jared Huffman ranging far and wide to stave off 7 challengers in newly drawn 2nd Congressional District race The Press Democrat “Huffman added, ‘We’re going to have to experiment, we’re going to have to innovate. And in the case of problem wolves that just get locked in on cattle and can’t be deterred, we’re going to have to do some lethal intervention.’ It was a notable reply, coming from the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and one of the most ardent conservationists in Congress.” To continue reading, click here.

‘History being made’: Gray wolf enters Sequoia National Park for the first time in over a century SFGate “The 3-year-old female wolf, known as BEY03F, made headlines in February when she became the first wolf to cross into Los Angeles County since gray wolves reentered California in 2011. She was born into the Beyem Seyo pack in Plumas County and has since dispersed hundreds of miles across California, likely in search of a mate, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times. Since then, she’s been closely tracked using a location mapping system created by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Her location was tagged inside Sequoia National Park this week and remains there as of Tuesday.” To continue reading, click here.

Are mountain lions a treat in California? How to weigh the latest warnings The Bee “Lassen County Sheriff John McGarva posted on social media earlier this month that mountain lions posed an imminent threat to public safety in a remote area near Susanville, sending the news ricocheting around the state and terrifying residents already on edge aft months of attacks by wolves on cattle in neighboring Sierra County last year.” To read the full article, click here.