A Day in the Life of Two Coexistence Ranchers

Image of sheep in mobile electric fence courtesy of Gowan Batist

A Day in the Life of Two Coexistence Ranchers

Wednesday, November 20 at 12pm PT via Zoom

What does it mean to raise livestock with coexistence as a value? It's one thing to recreate in places where mountain lions, coyotes, and bears live. It's another to make ranching your livelihood in wild places.

Ranchers around the world have peacefully and productively coexisted with wild cats, coyotes, bears and other apex carnivores for millennia. Indeed, modern deterrent devices used in the U.S. today have origins in the most ancient coexistence tools. But for most of the ranchers who raise cattle, sheep, and goats on 600+ million acres across the US, lethal removal is the preferred method for dealing with carnivores that share the land, even though lethal removal can end up causing an increase in conflict.

Learn about a day in the life of two successful, professional ranchers who peacefully raise livestock in lion and coyote country. Why did they choose to put coexistence at the center of their ranching operations? What are the investments needed to implement non-lethal deterrent programs at scale? What are key differences between coexisting with mountain lions and with coyotes, and is it possible to do both?

Join us for a much-needed conversation with two coexistence ranchers about their work in California and neighboring states. The conversation will be moderated by Brent Lyles, Executive Director for the Mountain Lion Foundation.

The Speakers

Keli Hendricks serves as the Ranching with Wildlife Coordinator for Project Coyote. She lives and works on a cattle ranch in Sonoma County, California.

Keli has also been a long time volunteer with Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, where she fosters orphaned wild babies including raccoons, skunks, coyotes, squirrels, opossums and more, and prepares them for release back into the wild. Keli and her husband Dean live on a cattle ranch in Sonoma County where Dean has managed the cow/calf operation for over 25 years. Keli is also VP of Little Trooper Ranch, a dog rescue in Santa Rosa, and she serves on the Sonoma County Fish and Game Commission.

Gowan Batist is Coexistence Programs Manager at the Mountain Lion Foundation. Gowan lives and works on a sheep ranch in Mendocino County, California.

Gowan grew up outdoors with wildlife in Northern California and is committed to fostering a land stewardship ethic that increases and preserves biodiversity for future generations. As co-owner of a regenerative sheep ranch on the Mendocino Coast, they are a member of the Board of Directors of CAFF (Community Alliance with Family Farmers). Gowan is deeply invested in facilitating positive interactions between humans, agriculture and wildlife. They have a long history of engagement and education, including receiving recognition for work from California Farmer’s Guild, American Farmland Trust, Americorps NCCC, and the Sustainable North Coast Award from the office of Congressman Jared Huffman.