Episodes
Friday Nov 24, 2023
Introduction to All Land is Beautiful
Friday Nov 24, 2023
Friday Nov 24, 2023
All Land is Beautiful is a series of conversations around the obvious, and not so obvious, natural beauty of California and beyond. The motivation and nexus to start this podcast comes from an ever-evolving personal perspective shift on what both contemporary habitat conservation means and looks like. You see, I, like I believe most people come to experience and perceive what’s good and bad for nature (at least the ones that I have interacted with) are of the mindset that the best we can do for nature is to simply remove ourselves from it and the natural of order of things will sort themselves out. You see a dense forest, you should leave it alone; you see a natural grassy field, well there certainly shouldn’t be any cows or sheep in it and in that case why don’t we remove all of that old barbed-wire fencing; driving through huge swaths of agricultural land, jeez can you imagine what this all looked like before we turned it into row crops? And while those are all completely legitimate ideas and trains of thought, over the last several years of working throughout the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada Foothills, I’ve come to find this whole thing is far more nuanced.
Friday Nov 24, 2023
Friday Nov 24, 2023
On this episode of All Land is Beautiful I’m joined by Dr. Jaymee Marty, a biologist based out of the Sacramento Valley, and one of the many insightful and hardworking individuals working to conserve and manage the land, its plants and wildlife throughout the northern California region.
Jaymee is probably best known for publishing a study that scientifically confirmed that cattle grazing in vernal pools, which are seasonal wetlands that host a number of threatened and endangered plant and wildlife species, is not only beneficial but critical to the protection of biodiversity in these ecosystems. A concept that had long been understood within the ecological community, but had never actually been quantified. She continues her work with vernal pools conducting surveys for fairy shrimp and California tiger salamander on behalf of the United States Airforce, as well as a number of non-profit land trusts throughout the Central Valley region, and has picked up a number of other unique and interesting studies and work on other habitats and wildlife as well.
We talk about a lot here. Jaymee’s roots and path to a career in biology and conservation, cattle grazing and its benefits throughout the northern California landscape, and some unique instances in which native wildlife persists in unlikely environments. Hope you enjoy.
Marshall Gorham
Host & Creator
Marshall is a California-based conservationist, working in land protection and habitat management in the Sacramento Region, and the creator of All Land is Beautiful. His career started in public parks and recreation, but over the last decade has become focused on land, water, and private land conservation. He’s a husband, father, general enthusiast about anything nature-related, and loves a good bird pun, NO EGRETS!