Grant County ranchers fear financial hit from court-ordered loss of grazing territory (OR)

The Oregonian ^ | January 30, 2011 | Richard Cockle

[jazusamo]

Richard Cockle/The Oregonian/2008

Ken Brooks, a rancher in Grant County, takes a break from

 feeding his cows to discuss a federal judge's decision on

 steelhead that he says could force him to cut his herd from

 450 cows to 150.

JOHN DAY -- Rancher Ken Brooks is standing in his ranch yard near the ghost town of Fox , his eyes sweeping the timber-covered Malheur National Forest that holds the key to his future and that of 18 other Grant County ranching families.

"They're all pretty angry," he said. "We're all in the same boat. We're unsure what we're going to do. And most of all, we're unsure of the reason we have to do it."

A Dec. 30 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty prohibits the ranchers from turning their cattle out on seven summertime U.S. Forest Service grazing allotments to protect threatened Middle Columbia River steelhead.

The latest decision in a years-long battle over the effects of grazing on stream habitat bans cows on 16 percent of the 1.7 million-acre forest, which has one the largest grazing programs of any forest in the Pacific Northwest.

The ban starts in June and would affect almost 4,000 mother cows and their annual calf crop valued at $2.8 million, ranchers and forest officials said.  

Environmentalists who filed the steelhead lawsuit said the Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service must do a better job enforcing laws to preserve stream banks from roaming cattle.

"The court makes clear that the agencies have to make steelhead protection their highest priority," said Brent Fenty , executive director of the 1,400-member Oregon Natural Desert Association.

But outside the courtroom, Grant County is bracing for the economic repercussions, said county Commissioner Boyd Briton.

"There are families involved, there are employees," Briton said. "All those cows, the feed stores, the Les Schwab tire store downtown, the grocery stores, it affects all of us."

The sprawling, mountainous county has a single stoplight, no rail or interstate highway access, only three fast-food restaurants, one theater in an old Rebekah Lodge and a mere 7,500 residents on land twice the size of Delaware.

The county already is coping with unemployment higher than 14 percent. The 19 ranchers affected by the judge's decision represent about 20 percent of those who hold grazing permits on the Malheur.

The overall hit from the ban, perhaps 60 jobs, is the equivalent of losing roughly 7,000 jobs in Multnomah County, said Mark Webb,  Grant County commission chairman.

Brooks, whose family has ranched between Fox and Mount Vernon for a century, expects some of his neighbors to quit ranching. He would have to reduce his herd from 450 to 150 cows, he said.

A reduction that dramatic would force him to lay off his two cowhands, he said, including one who's worked for the family since 1975.

The judge's ruling surprised John Grubel, a Forest Service district ranger in John Day, and Spencer Hovekamp, a branch chief with the National Marine Fisheries Service  in La Grande.

Both said ranchers have made significant strides in the last two years toward meeting government stream bank standards.

Hovekamp, a fish biologist who keeps track of John Day River system steelhead, said recent adult returns have been high -- mostly due to favorable ocean conditions and not, as some ranchers claim, owing to improved range management. Ranchers also blame habitat problems on wild horses and elk.

Still, they "are putting in a lot of work" riding the allotments on horseback, monitoring cattle, repairing fences and shutting gates left open by other forest users so cows and calves stay out of areas where they aren't supposed to be, said Jeff Shinn, a Forest Service spokesman in John Day.

Hovekamp also noted that some problems are out of ranchers' control, including logging reductions and wildfire suppression that contribute to canopy shade that leaves less grass for grazing.

"Where the grass remains lush and growing is near streams," he said, and that's where grazing has the biggest potential impact on fish.

The grazing ban doesn't leave them many other options, ranchers said.

Private summertime pasture is relatively scarce. More than 60 percent of Grant County is federally managed, and ranches tend to be at low elevations and devoted to summertime hay production to feed cattle in winter.

Brooks, for example, owns 9,000 acres, but he needs to set aside some to produce 800 tons of hay, and much of the rest is in parcels scattered among federal allotments. Grazing those tracts while keeping his cows off enjoined federal lands would mean building 18 miles of fence at a cost of $10,000 per mile, he said. He can't afford that.

The one hope for ranchers is if a new biological opinion can be drafted by the Forest Service and approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service before June, showing that cattle can graze on those allotments without harming fish runs.

But Hovekamp said getting that done in time "doesn't seem likely" with a large and complicated grazing program. A more reasonable deadline would be June 2012, he said.

The quandary for ranchers is what to do now:

Should they hold onto their herds, gambling that they'll find summer pasture or that the judge will relent on the timetable? Or should they sell?

"The price is highest for cow-calf pairs in January and February," Hovekamp said.

[jazusamo]

Another judge's ruling in favor of enviros against ranchers. This is just one more step to get ranchers and everyone but hikers off federal (our) public lands by enviro nazis.

[jazusamo]

Don’t know much about judge Ancer Haggerty but checked a little and he’s made favorable rulings for environmentalists in the past.

[driftdiver]

The eventual goal includes banning hikers. No people allowed.

[jazusamo]

Sadly you’re probably right.

[GladesGuru]

“The establishment of an American soviet government will require the confiscation of large landed estates in both town and country, and the entirety of lakes, forests, rivers and mineral deposits.”

William Z. Foster, founder of the Fosterite division of world communism. 1932.

What is occurring in an Americanized version of “DeKulackization” of America.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Another judge’s ruling in favor of enviros against ranchers. This is just one more step to get ranchers and everyone but hikers off federal (our) public lands by enviro nazis. “

They did it to the fishermen and now they are doing it to the ranchers.

The ranchers should truck their herd to every envirowhackos house and let them graze on their nice cozy suburban lots.

Then again, if it was my land and someone was taking food out of my kids mouth, I would make their life miserable.

[SatinDoll]

In the Pacific Northwest, salmon are sacred. That’s no joke and there is widespread public support for environmental restrictions that protect salmon habitat.

I am not anti-rancher or anti-cattlemen. But a person who can’t run their operation profitably without using public lands, well, they had better change what they’re doing.

You can’t rely on the government, period.

[Foolsgold]

Bears and Birds get trout (steelhead) never saw a cow wade in to grab a fish.

[thecabal]

Wait until they ban all motorized vehicles from Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. A lot of us hunters can say goodbye to hunting there and a ton of ranchers will be SOL.

[jazusamo]

Yep, I know some ranchers in Eastern Oregon, they’re good people, work very hard and just get by. These rulings will break them and it won’t take many more like it to do it. The enviro nazis have practically unlimited funds and the ranchers don’t, it’s really sad.

[george76]

Ted Turner would love to buy some more foreclosed ranch land so he could build another eco-lodge next to a private jet port for his Hollywood friends

[jazusamo]

You have to familiarize yourself with ranching that’s done in the NW. The leasing of summer grazing has been going on for many many years and it’s the only thing that has allowed the ranchers to stay in business. The enviros are using anything they can to get not only the rancher off the land but everyone, their arguments for the most part are bs.

[Robwin]

A mere coincidence:

Like all counties in eastern Oregon, the majority of registered voters who are party of a political party in Grant County are members of the Republican Party. In the 2008 presidential election, 70.97% of Grant County voters voted for Republican John McCain, while 26.05% voted for Democrat Barack Obama and 3.94% of voters either voted for a Third Party candidate or wrote in a candidate.[1] These numbers show a small but definite shift towards the Democratic candidate when compared to the 2004 presidential election, in which 78.9% of Grant County voters voted for George W. Bush, while 19.2% voted for John Kerry, and .9% of voters either voted for a Third Party candidate or wrote in a candidate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_County,_Oregon

[jazusamo]

Ted Turner would love to buy some more foreclosed ranch land

You bet he would and probably is licking his chops with every one of these type rulings.

[jazusamo]

I haven’t looked up the stats but that sounds a lot like Harney County also, not many two legged Rats there that are easy to find.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I don’t know why we even need leftist politicians. The “courts” are doing a great job destroying this country and running it into the ground.

[driftdiver]

No probably about it, they’ve publicly stated it on many many occasions. No people except in large cities and the train tracks in between.

[driftdiver]

You have a point but the real purpose of this isn’t to help salmon, its to hurt the ranchers.

[JRandomFreeper]

Other than a 10 square mile District, for the Federal capitol, and necessary shipyards and military bases, the federal government has NO business owning or controlling ANY land in the states.

Get the Fed out!

/johnny

[goodnesswins]

If I’m recalling correctly, Oregon has the most Federally owned land of all States.