About
Jessica Schley is a writer, rider, realtor, and rancher in the Santa Ynez Valley, nestled 30 minutes northeast and inland from Santa Barbara, California. She grew up on a multigenerational working cattle and horse ranch in Happy Canyon that raised Charolais cows and ranch-stock Quarter Horses.
Her latest book, Roots & Resilience: California Ranchers in Their Own Words, is a collection of stories, poems and essays written by 17 ranchers throughout the Golden State. Her writing is focused on the ranching traditions and old cowboy stories she grew up with, and her deep connection to the land. Jessica has been performing readings from the book for special events throughout California since it came out last year, including the 31st Annual Cowpoke Fall Gathering in Loomis. She will be performing some of her work from the book and debuting some new material at the 41st National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada on January 26-31. The Western Folklife Center hosts the annual gathering of writers, poets, artisans and folk singers from throughout the west. Learn more/purchase tickets at https://www.westernfolklife.org/
Because of her lifelong passion for ranching and rangelands, Jessica serves on the Legacy Council for the California Rangeland Trust, the largest land trust in the state.
“CRT’s mission is to conserve rangelands and ranches - to support the land and people that live us the food we eat, the views we love, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. We advocate to elevate the story of ranching and conservation, to ensure that saving ranchland remains important to everyone."
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Jessica studied rangeland ecology, food distribution, and land and water conservation policy at UC Berkeley. She wrote her senior thesis on land trusts and conservation easements as a critical tool for helping ranching families plan out their long-term and
intergenerational family business transitions. There are several ways that land trusts work with landowners to conserve working landscapes and ranches. One of these is mitigation agreements. These are contracts that pay ranchers to steward habitats that contain species that benefit from cattle grazing, with a land trust acting as a collaborator with the landowner.
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“Most people don’t realize, researchers at UC Berkeley proved thirty years ago that grazing rangelands with livestock is good for the ecosystem, and is beneficial to multiple endangered and protected species. One great example is fairy shrimp, who thrive in the shallow puddle imprints left behind by cloven-hooved bovines, but do not survive in ponds that are fenced off from so-called ‘cattle intrusion’. Ongoing research like this shows how critical it is for environmentalists to collaborate with ranchers to accomplish mitigation and conservation goals. Ranchers are conservationists, too; but mainstream culture tends to misunderstand and stereotype them as something else entirely. We all want the same thing: to save the land for future generations. We can accomplish this much better through collaboration than we can through stereotyping and stigma. I love seeing ranchers successfully pass their land down to the next generation, knowing they’ll continue on with stewarding the rangelands they belong to. I like to call it Carhartt Conservationism. Not everyone wears a cowboy hat or boots; but anyone can wear a Carhartt, so it symbolizes common ground. We’ve got to normalize the skillset of collaboration and finding common ground. Our future depends on it.”
Jessica’s deep understanding of ranch operations, agriculture, land stewardship, and conservation practices makes her a sought after advisor to real estate clients buying or selling ranches, equestrian properties, and rural estates. Whether guiding a first-time buyer in search of the solace of open spaces, or helping a seasoned rancher navigate a complex transaction, Jessica works with clarity, integrity, and genuine respect for the land and the people who care for it.