History and Recent Trends

Abstract

Contemporary ranches and dehesas are layered onto centuries of human use. The Spanish dehesas began forming during Roman rule, and by the time of the Christian Reconquest were managed for grazing, hunting, farming, foraging, and forestry. California’s oak woodlands were shaped by thousands of years of Native American management, including widespread burning that was eventually suppressed after European settlement. With the first settlers from Spain came livestock and crops from the Old World, as well as grasses and other species that have since naturalized across the state. California woodlands have undergone periods of expropriation, scientific management, conservation, and integrated management. Spanish dehesas, meanwhile, have experienced periods of consolidation, development, decay, and resurgence. California oak woodland ranches have not been managed as intensively as the Spanish dehesa, but since World War II both landscapes have experienced pressures associated with development, technology, demographics, and globalization, leading to profound social and ecological change.