Well, for those of us way far north of you, that's Bay Area, rather than northern CA! And wow....I did not think property like that was even to be had that close to everything! And with a waterfall no less! Is it year-round?
There are, of course, no end of
permaculture designers and teachers right in your area, and then again you are right in concluding that not many of them will have a lot of knowledge/experience with animals beyond a few
chickens. You might check out what's being done at Green Friends Farm at the Amma center near San Ramon. I think they are working with cows there on the
Allan Savory/Holistic Management program. Nice orchard too. I did a
workshop with
Geoff Lawton there a couple years ago.
Unless you're a pretty experienced designer and permaculturist, as well as at least somewhat familiar with the bioregion and ecosystem, it's always a good idea to devote several months, if not an entire year, mostly to observation and research. What's growing? On what soil? In what climate? With what critters, bugs, fungi, etc.? What did people preceding you there do, and succeed at, or fail at? What do the neighbors do? And so on.
And of course, anywhere in CA, design
should start first with thinking about two things....water and fire. A lot of
permaculture design globally focuses on water-based design, and design for fire issues can sometimes challenge/contradict this (such as the placement of forests and other dense plantings downhill or near buildings).....so just be aware of that....
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