MENDOCINO CO., 4/24/26 — The University of California’s principal field research facility on the North Coast, the Hopland Research and Extension Center, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The center sits on 5,358 acres of oak woodland, grassland, and chaparral lands purchased from a local rancher by UC in 1951 to support long-term research on rangelands and environmental management.
For the past 75 years, the center has functioned as a learning landscape, exploring how agriculture and ecology can coexist on working lands. The site has hosted researchers from all over California and beyond, playing a key role in over 2,000 scientific publications.
Historic research has been far-flung, including sheep biology and management; rangeland improvement, including vegetation management and soil fertility; wildlife science; and public health related to vector-borne diseases and parasites. Some of the knowledge gained through these scientific studies has had immediate application, not only in Mendocino County, but statewide, nationwide and worldwide.
For example, intensive ecological and epidemiological investigations of the Lyme disease bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) have been conducted since the early 1980s by UC Professor Bob Lane and colleagues. These studies unveiled the ecology of the western black-legged tick, the primary human-biting vector of the disease. The research revealed critical habitat for these ticks is in leaf litter and decaying downed trees – all inviting places to take a seat during a woodland walk.
This tick research has led to public health guidance for people who work outdoors so they can reduce the risk of tick bites and potential infection. Researchers also uncovered an unlikely hero in HREC’s woodlands in the form of the western fence lizard. The blood of this common blue-bellied reptile contains a protein that kills the Lyme disease-causing bacteria in ticks that feed on them, meaning the lizards in our oak woodlands help reduce the spread of Lyme disease.
In addition to its role as a research facility, Hopland REC serves as an educational center that benefits land managers, technicians, growers and students. Annual educational programming includes the California Naturalist certification course, guided public hikes, and K-12 school field trips that allow students from surrounding schools to visit the site to observe birds, meet young lambs, and learn about how wildfire interacts with landscapes.
Hopland Research and Extension Center also ranches a flock of more than 200 breeding ewes used for research in veterinary medicine and range management. The sheep serve as a demonstration flock for public vocational classes such as sheep shearing and lambing school. Historic annual public events, including “Barn to Yarn” and Hopland Sheepdog Trials, have given the surrounding community an opportunity to engage with sheep ranching and the wool fiber process.
The Hopland Research and Extension Center hosts an open house on Sunday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free to the public and will include a short walking tour where visitors can meet scientists, participate in educational programming and learn about some of the research projects. Participants are invited to bring a lunch or purchase lunch from a food truck that will be on site. RSVP for the event here.