Cattle may be making a comeback on federally-owned land at the edge of Lake Berryessa.

Under a proposal involving local ranchers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Napa County cattlemen who agree to restore native plants along creek and river banks, plant oak trees and install bird boxes may be allowed to bring cattle back to graze on government-owned property.

It is an about-face from a strategy employed a little more than a decade ago.

Returning cattle to the shores of Lake Berryessa is “not a done deal,” said Phillip Blake, a district conservationist with Natural Resources Conservation Service in Napa County, which is working with ranchers and federal and state agencies on the plan. “But all agree it is the right thing to do. It is something that could be good for everyone. If done right, the land is in better shape.”

In 1998, ranchers at Lake Berryessa were asked by Bureau of Reclamation to remove their cattle from a six-mile strip of federally owned land parallel to the lake’s eastern shoreline. The feds wanted the cattle gone so the state Department of Fish and Game could restore the property to oak woodlands and natural vegetation, with some man-made ponds for waterfowl.

But Fish and Game did not have enough people on the ground or resources to manage the lands.

Fast-forward to 2009. The land is in no better shape than before — noxious weeds are still growing, oaks have not regenerated and a thick layer of dead grasses and weeds is suppressing growth of desirable plants. It is a fire hazard just waiting for a spark, authorities say.

About a year ago, the Bureau of Reclamation approached NRCS, which works with land owners on regulatory compliance and habitat restoration, asking for ideas on how to balance cattle grazing with preserving the landscape by the lake.

So Blake and Morgan Doran, the local livestock adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension, teamed up to develop guidelines on how ranchers can manage cattle while protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat. The two agencies will present the guidelines to the Bureau of Reclamation in coming months.

If the bureau offers the green light, cattle could be back at Berryessa, and the plan could serve as a template to safely reintroduce cattle onto other public lands.

Berryessa-area ranchers John and Judy Ahmann, who’ve worked on other projects with NRCS, would like to be able to have their cattle grazing on the government-owned lands adjacent to their Running Deer Ranch.

Blake said the Ahmanns and other area ranchers are candidates to be the best stewards of the land. “They are out there on the ground,” he said. “Ranchers know what is going on.”

Judy Ahmann said she thinks this is a win-win approach: It reduces fire danger near the ranch, gives the cattle room to roam, encourages more wildlife and helps the government solve a problem it hasn’t been able to in a decade of trying.

“The fuel load in the thatch is so thick the deer won’t go near it to get a drink in the lake,” she said. Grazing will help bring back the desirable grasses and greatly reduce the fire danger in the area.

Ahmann said the public land in question was once over-grazed, which created the problem Fish & Game wanted to avoid. But cattle aren’t a problem if properly managed. “Cattle are a tool ... they are one of many tools in the toolbox,” she said.