San Joaquin County will allow farmers, ranchers into evacuated areas during emergencies

STOCKTON — The Corral Fire in San Joaquin County which burned over 14,000 acres is now the catalyst behind a program that would allow local farmers and ranchers to go into evacuated areas and take care of their livestock.

The San Joaquin County Ag Commissioner said the county learned a lot from the fire that threatened homes, lives and livestock.

Many local farmers and ranchers want to see this program happen quickly.

"This is our livelihood," Diana Conley said.

Conley spoke to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors back on July 9 before they approved the livestock pass program.

"This pass is important because we need to be there for our animals," Conley said.

In her personal experience with the Corral Fire, Conley was caught between saving her home or saving her livestock from the flames that sparked on June 1.

"The fire jumped from site 300 to my place. I was with Cal Fire and they asked if I could evacuate and I said, 'No way,' because I had my animals," she said.

"The recent corral fire in Tracy we saw there was an immediate need to get that established as soon as possible," said Kamal Bagri, the Ag Commissioner for San Joaquin County.

Bagri says the livestock pass program is needed but this isn't something new.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2021 allowing for the creation of such programs. Now, 15 counties in the state have something similar, including Stanislaus County, where Bagri was ag commissioner two years ago.

"The first and foremost priority is the lives of people. If it's safe to enter, that's the only time," she said.

To get the livestock pass, there are some requirements. You must have around 20 or more heads of livestock and complete a four-hour training with Cal Fire to know where you can and can't go.

Cal Fire Captain John Reynolds has trained several farmers in other counties for similar programs.

"Law enforcement will see that at the roadblock and let them back in to attend to their cattle," Reynolds said. "They may load them up and move out of harm's way."

The pass is good for not just fires, but any kind of disaster that hits the county like floods, storms or earthquakes.

Bagri said the plan is to open up the application process in August.