Posted on 08/09/2002 12:20:42 PM PDT by CedarDave
Friday, August 9, 2002
Task Force Says Some Grazing OK
By Brendan Smith Journal Staff Writer
Range conditions in the Santa Fe National Forest are much better than reported by forest officials, and about half of the closed grazing allotments can still support cattle this year, the New Mexico Range Improvement Task Force reported Thursday.
The task force evaluation was requested by ranchers who were ordered last month to remove all or part of their herds from about 40 grazing allotments, which forest officials said had been damaged by severe drought and overgrazing.
However, the task force — a group of state-funded range specialists at New Mexico State University — found 17 of the 25 allotments it assessed still have enough forage to support cattle this year.
"Instead of with a broad brush, this needs to be done on a site-specific basis," task force coordinator John Fowler said about the grazing closures. "It doesn't have to be all or nothing."
Forest officials will evaluate the task force report before deciding whether to alter any of the grazing closures, which were based on in-house evaluations of each allotment, Acting Deputy Forest Supervisor Michael Frazier said.
"We're going to move as quickly as we can because we still believe we have conditions out there that merit further removals," Frazier said Thursday before viewing the task force report. "We still believe the folks who took (cattle) off voluntarily on their own or at our encouragement did the right thing."
But for now, all of the grazing closures are on hold, based on orders from the U.S. Agriculture Department in Washington, D.C. The Agriculture Department, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, reversed a July 23 decision by Acting Forest Supervisor Gilbert Zepeda to move ahead with the closures even though the task force hadn't yet completed its report.
The turnabout followed a lobbying visit to Washington by Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, and several northern New Mexico ranchers.
"This (task force report) confirms our belief that conditions were not bad enough to warrant the drastic action the Forest Service took," Cowan said Thursday.
The report also supported the contention by ranchers that an exploding elk population is contributing to overgrazing. Elk pellets outnumbered cow patties on several closed grazing allotments.
"A rapidly expanding elk population has intensified the competition for forage with a static or decreasing population of livestock," the report stated.
The task force found the main reasons for decreased forage, besides the current drought, have been a reduction in timber harvesting and suppression of wildfires, which caused a choking overgrowth of small trees to encroach upon mountain meadows.
Task force members are currently assessing range conditions in the Carson, Gila and Lincoln national forests "in response to one of the most severe droughts that New Mexico has experienced since the 1950s," Fowler said.
Created by the Legislature in 1978, the task force provides an objective, third-party assessment of range conditions, Fowler said.
"We've never done this before at this level," he said about the extent of the Santa Fe range assessments.
The task force found range conditions in the Santa Fe forest support total removal of livestock from the Caja del Rio, Chicoma and Polvadera allotments and cattle reductions on the Senorito, Cuba Mesa, Chiquito, Youngsville and El Pueblo allotments.
Eight allotments — including Springs, Coyote, Bull Creek, San Pedro, San Luis, Barbero, Ojitos and San Diego — do not need to reduce cattle but should be re-evaluated at the end of the growing season, the task force reported.
Nine allotments — including Gurule, Mesa del Medio, Jarosa, Ojio Frio, Vacas, Gallina Mountain, Oso Vallecitos, Valle Medio and Cebolla/San Antonio — have ample forage with no need for any cattle reductions, the task force reported.Copyright 2002 Albuquerque Journal
Well said. Anybody who thinks the enviros only go after nasty oil companies, logging companies or SUV manufacturers, better think twice.
They are out to destroy our very way of life, across the board.
They are out to destroy our very way of life, across the board.
This is why no conservative can be a green or offer aid and comfort to these greens. If they are a green or offer aid and comfort, they are not conservatives. They are mentally ill people aiding in the destruction of our way of life.
You mean there are other problems besides the forest burning????? WOW!!!! As Blackie would say, "Stop the environmental wackos."
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