Land use changes at the Galbreath Preserve

Fred Galbreath managed Galbreath Preserve lands as a working ranch from 1944 to 2000. He applied a number of innovative techniques to reduce erosion and enhance the health of forests on the property. Understanding the practices Fred employed provides context and understanding of the patterns that are seen on the landscape today. The purpose of this project is to gather and summarize information about Fred’s land management philosophy and the activities he undertook while managing the ranch for 56 years.

During Spring semester 2011, graduate students in History 500 conducted interviews with 4 members of Fred Galbreath’s family and 3 long-time friends. Each interviewee was asked a standard suite of 21 questions. Audio and sometimes video recordings were made of each interview and later transcribed by students. After the initial set of interviews with History 500 students, one of the students, Matt Thompson, was hired during the summer of 2011 to conduct follow up interviews with some participants and to transcribe a 1995 video of Fred Galbreath at Humboldt State University discussing management of the ranch. Follow up interviews included documenting historic sites on a maps and a field visit with interviewee Charlie Hiatt. All pertinent audio and video data were transcribed. A brief summary of statements regarding land management issues were summarized.Interviewees signed agreement of informed consent that allows the resulting materials to be available in SSU's Shultz Library and through the Galbreath Wildlands Preserve.