Ranching heritage and island restoration

The National Park Service’s account of Santa Cruz Island places sheep within a broader history of ranching, changing ownership and ecological restoration. It reports that the Gherini family continued sheep ranching on the island’s eastern end until 1984. Surviving ranch buildings make that agricultural history visible in the landscape.

Restoration subsequently involved several different animals and ecological relationships, including sheep removal, pig eradication, island fox conservation and changes involving eagles. Sheep were one part of this history; it would be inaccurate to make them the sole explanation for every ecological problem or recovery on the island.

Conserving the Santa Cruz sheep breed away from the island and restoring native island ecosystems answer different conservation needs. A rare domestic population can deserve protection without requiring free-ranging sheep to remain in a sensitive native habitat. Understanding both purposes helps explain why removal from an island and preservation of a breed can coexist.