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Mr Daniel Fox
Executive Director, Tres Hermanos Conservation Authority
First, perhaps an introduction is in order. My name is Dan Hostetler, a 37+ year resident of Chino Hills. I have recently retired from a 38+ year career as a Professor and Chairman
Emeritus in the Plant Science Department in the Huntley College of Agriculture at Cal Poly Pomona. My teaching experience includes expertise in Irrigated Pasture Management, Rangeland
Management, Cereal Crop, Field Crop and Forage Crop Production, as well as Vegetable Crops, Viticulture, and Weed Science. My entire career at Cal Poly Pomona, also involved the management
of the WK Kellogg Ranch and Spadra Ranch as well as 2 others-a total of 1550 acres of cropland and rangeland. In addition, AGRIscapes and the Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch fell under
my management.
I have always felt somewhat connected to the Tres Hermanos Ranch. In the mid 70's,
I helped plant, bale and haul hay crops off of the ranch. Starting in the mid 90's my classes in Range Management visited the ranch as a laboratory field trip. These visits to the
ranch included students completing plant collections, seeking out California native plants, observing positive and negative effects of livestock grazing management, observing invasive
weeds and grasses and impacts on plant communities, observing soil compaction, erosion, and water quality issues as well as numerous other rangeland management techniques in a California
annual grassland range.
It is my sincere hope that as the Tres Hermanos opens to the public, there will be a visitors center immediately or in the near future. This should serve as a staging area for hikes
and other activities. In addition, the visitors center would provide numerous teaching and learning opportunities utilizing docents to present pertinent topics and leading group visits
to specific areas of the ranch. These could include a history of the ranch, ranch life in early California, rangeland management principles, ecology, botany of plants on the ranch,
wildlife issues, invasive plant control-the list of opportunities is endless.
I would be extremely interested in helping develop an area set aside for a living herbarium of grasses, legumes and browse plants which are important to the Tres Hermanos. Other additions
to the herbarium could include California native grasses, legumes and browse plants, in addition to invasive weeds and poisonous plants which can become a problem with grazing livestock.
This area could even transform in the future to a "ranch garden" typical of life on early, turn of the century ranches. Additionally. you could take a closer look at the grass family
and its important crops such as corn, barley and wheat which were all crops of our local area in the past. Beyond sustaining world food supplies, many of the grass species have the
potential to become excellent plants for energy production in the future. The upkeep and maintenance of this area could be kept up with docents and volunteers interested in this area.
The Irvine Ranch Conservancy actually has a seed increase farm to grow seed for range improvements within their area-a great idea for the future.
I am looking for somewhere I could volunteer during my retirement, and would be interested in talking to the group further about these and other projects. I am excited that this ranch
will live on in perpetuity and be a valuable resource to both our local cities and the surrounding communities.
Thanks,
Dan Hostetler
professordan0914@gmail.com <mailto:professordan0914@gmail.com>