Once, on a remote island battered by fierce winds and surrounded by the Pacific, there existed a peculiar ranching empire. San Miguel Island, now part of California’s Channel Islands National Park, was once home to thousands of sheep, isolated ranching families, and a sprawling ranch complex built partly from shipwreck debris. But decades of unbridled grazing degraded the landscape, stripping away vegetation and increasing erosion. Today, the ruins of that period offer a painful window into the island’s tortured history.
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