Charles A. Raguse

Charles Raguse died at the age of ninety-one in Woodland on April 27, 2022. He was born in 1930 and raised on a small dairy farm in north­central Wisconsin. Charlie graduated from high school in Shawano, Wisconsin and worked with his father on the family farm, where everything was done by hand or with a team of horses, until he was 25 years old.  In 1955 he enrolled in the Farm Short Course at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and in 1964 he emerged from academia with a Ph.D. in Agronomy, a wife (Norma Anderson) and a daughter (Janet Anderson). Dr. Raguse retired in 1992.

During his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Raguse studied seasonal changes in non-structural carbohydrates in alfalfa, red clover, Ladino clover and birdsfoot trefoil under the guidance of Dr. Dale Smith. Dr. Raguse continued studying forage crops at UC Davis when in 1964, he made his first trip west of the Rockies, to fill the Agronomy Department’s irrigated pasture position vacated when Dr. Maurice Peterson took on administrative duties in the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The irrigated pasture position was designed to address elements of livestock, soil, and water management in cooperation with researchers from other departments. 

The beginning of Dr. Raguse’s career at Davis coincided with the purchase of land for the establishment of the University of California Sierra Field Station (now the U.C. Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, UC SFREC) east of Marysville. Dr. Merton Love, Chair of the Agronomy Department, soon adjusted Dr. Raguse’s duties to include work at this new station and he was deeply involved there until his retirement. He often remarked that the Timbuctoo Bend in the Yuba River, nearby Beale Air Force Base, the Hammonton gold fields, and the Sutter Buttes; all visible from the station, formed a constellation of values that he frequently highlighted in presentations. 

During his career Dr. Raguse conducted extensive research at the station focusing on management systems for California foothill rangelands and irrigated pastures. In collaboration with Roy Hull, Animal Science Department, Dr. Raguse investigated the potential to use irrigated pasture to supplement beef cattle on dry annual rangelands and the utility of rotational grazing in range and pasture livestock production. These were time-consuming large-scale studies that resulted in few publications but contributed greatly to understanding of rangeland and pasture management systems in California.

Another theme of Dr. Raguse’s research was the biology and management of annual legumes on annual rangelands. He investigated the developmental morphology of subterranean and rose clovers, late summer irrigation of annual legumes, abiotic and nutrient influences on germination and growth of subterranean clover, and the influence of summer rain on germination of annual range plants.

Dr. Raguse served as research advisory committee chair at the U.C. Sierra Field Station during the 1970’s and 80’s.  His knowledge of station history was essential in the development of a geographical information system database of management and research activities throughout the field station, and he provided valuable advice during the development of the station’s pioneering rangeland water quality management plan. Dr. Raguse’s interest in the field station continued after retirement as he participated in field days and other events for as long as his health allowed.

Dr. Raguse taught courses in forage science and rangeland ecology and management, and he supervised several graduate students. Following his mentorship, several of these students distinguished themselves as UC Cooperative Extension Advisors and Specialists, Associate Vice President of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and one led the Resource Assessment Division of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s multi-year assessment of the effectiveness of conservation practices on the nation’s rangelands.

Dr. Raguse was an avid historian. Throughout his career he documented the acquisition, development and management of the land acquired by the university for the U.C. Sierra Field Station. An avid photographer, he photo-documented the development of the center and its resources throughout his career. In his retirement he drafted several pictorial reports of the development of the station into a premier research facility for the study of beef cattle production, ecology and management of rangeland and irrigated pasture, oak ecology and restoration, wildlife populations and watersheds and water quality. At the station’s 50th anniversary celebration, Dr. Raguse gave a thorough review of the station’s history and influence on his own research.

In retirement, Dr. Raguse drafted a history of UC SFREC entitled Diamond in the Rough, A History of the UC Sierra Field Station. He was not satisfied to chronicle the station’s history from 1960 to the present, instead reviewing history of the gold rush and historic literature and policies,  including establishment of the land grant system, forest and rangeland activities of state and federal agencies, UC rangeland research needs assessments, and the transition of UC research from the San Joaquin Experimental Range in Madera County to the new UC Sierra Field Station in the foothills of Yuba County.  Unfortunately, Dr. Raguse passed before he could complete this important history.

In 2018, Dr Raguse’s began to chronicle a 1965 pack trip in the Sierras with three colleagues from the Agronomy Department. The short book, full of high Sierra images, reflects on his adventure as a young faculty member. On John Muir Trail: The Confluence of Four Lives on an Epic Journey was published by Amazon Books in 2021.

Charles was preceded in death by his daughter Janet Anderson and ex-wife Norma Anderson. He is survived by his son, Paul Raguse.

Melvin George
Mike Connor
Bill Frost
Jim Hill
Calvin Qualset