The scalene nature of public lands ranching
Environmentalists, Forest Service and ranchers duke it out
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
A scalene triangle has unequal sides. So do political issuesbut
which side carries the most weight is a matter of perception.
Conservationist Lynn Stone drives her dusty pickup north along the
North Fork of the Big Lost River, just across Trail Creek Summit from the Wood River
Valley, and, as she does, explains just how unbalanced, just how scalene, she believes
public lands cattle ranching is.
Autumns gold punctures small holes in the otherwise brown
sagebrush tapestry, but its not the changing of the seasons that has her pointing
out the window every time the truck rounds a bend in the dirt road. Rather, crumbling
stream banks, gnawed-off, stubby grasses and endless fields of cow pies pique her
interest.
"There should be at least six inches of stubble here," she
says, pointing to a patch of chewed-down grass standing about an inch high. "Look at
that stream bank eroding into the water
We cant get them to admit that
theyre overgrazing this."
Stones reference to "them" is to the Salmon/Challis
National Forest officials, who oversee the management of the area. Theyre on one
side of the triangle with ranchers and environmentalists on the others.
The North Fork of the Big Lost River is part of the Wild Horse grazing
allotment, which is part of the Lost River Ranger District, which is part of the
Salmon/Challis National Forest. The allotment is made up of the North Fork and Kane Creek
drainage basins. Each year for two weeks, 1,892 pairs of cows with calves from six
different ranches are permitted on the 94,000-acre allotment.
Stone is on her way to meet three Salmon/Challis National Forest
officials and fellow-conservationist and Idaho Watersheds Project president Jon Marvel for
a tour of the allotment. Its been only two weeks since the cattle were removed, and
their effects linger.
In previous years, she warns, such meetings have been confrontational.
This one, it turns out, is no different.
The Forest Service officials must perform a delicate balancing act,
managing the land for its ecological value while providing forage for ranching. People on
both sidesranchers and conservationiststug endlessly on the Forest
Services sleeves, and the job is difficult, Salmon/Challis supervisor George Matejko
admits.
Ranching is one of the Wests most traditional industries and has
a place in modern-day public land management, he says.
The conservationists, however, contend that the Salmon/Challis National
Forest is bending over backward to accommodate the cattle industry. They contend the
ranching side of the triangle, in that National Forest, is easily the largest, most
supported side, and the inherent environmental impacts are unacceptable.
Lost River district ranger Carol Eckert and Matejko concede a bit of a
problem. They just dont admit theres enough of a problem to make the allotment
a priority in channeling the forests dwindling funds into prevention or restoration
projects there. They refuse to cut down on permitted herd sizes.
"Were not saying cattle dont have an impact,"
Eckert says as she surveys a trampled-down pond turned mud pit along Mud Creek. "They
just dont have all the impact. Obviously there are concerns
I believe we can
work with the permittees (ranchers) and solve the problem."
But Eckerts persistence in cooperating with the ranchers
isnt enough for Marvel. He asks in vain for the officials to work toward water
quality standards, woody plant standards, minimum grass height standards, or to lower the
numbers of cattle allowed on the allotment. The Forest Service officials dont budge
on their position. Itll take time, they say.
"The permittees here dont get it," Marvel says.
"They just dont, and the Forest Service just doesnt get it. Theyre
rolling over."
Matejkos philosophy is a bit simpler.
"Ive learned that trying to work things out for the short
term just doesnt work," he says.
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The North Fork of the Big Lost and Kane Creek basins arent the
only nearby areas where cattle grazings effects are apparent. In the Sawtooth
National Forest, however, land managers admit it when land is overgrazed and action needs
to be taken.
In the Frog Lake basin of the White Cloud Mountains this summer, cattle
were discovered in late July, roughly a month, possibly longer, before they were permitted
to be in the area. The Frog Lake basin is on the east side of the White Cloud peaks and
drains into the East Fork of the Salmon River. It is part of the East Fork grazing
allotment, leased to the Baker Ranch Partnership, based out of the Salmon River valley.
Sawtooth National Recreation Area ranger Deb DesLaurier admitted cattle
have been in the Frog Lake area for most of the grazing season, a problem that has
persisted periodically throughout the past 10 years.
"Its tough when you have one or two people (range
specialists) to cover several million acres
to be sure that everything is grazed to a
certain standard," DesLaurier said in an interview. "Frog Lake, and other remote
areas, are difficult to check. Its a big job and we dont have the people to do
it."
The Sawtooth Forest is also struggling with budget constraints.
Part of the problem in the upper East Fork area, which includes Little
Redfish Lake and Frog Lake, is that, since 1993, efforts to keep cattle out of the lakes
area until Labor Day have failed more often than not. Cattle are allowed in streams above
the lakes before Labor Day, but must pass the off-limits area to get there.
According to SNRA range specialist Seth Phalen, grazing in the area is
a problem that has to be remedied before the next grazing season arrives.
DesLaurier said that out of the five National Forests she has worked on
during her tenure with the Forest Service, stubble heights in this area are extremely low.
She said grasses in the Frog Lake area are chewed down to one or two inches.
The East Fork grazing allotment, divided into upper and lower halves,
is about to come up for renewal. DesLaurier said the process of reissuing an environmental
assessment of the lower half, under standards set by the National Environmental Protection
Act (NEPA), will be underway this winter. Environmental assessments were conducted there
in 1993.
In sharp contrast, the last time an environmental assessment of the
Wild Horse allotmenton the Salmon/Challis forestwas performed was in 1970, and
the Lost River Ranger Districts Eckert said the next could be conducted "in a
few years."
Sawtooth National Forest supervisor Bill LeVere said EAs are conducted
at intervals decided by each forest. He said that on the SNRA, they are done every seven
to 10 years. On the Salmon/Challis National Forest, rangers there said, they are done
about every 30 years.
DesLaurier stood behind grazing as a viable use of public lands despite
this summers complications.
"Livestock grazing is a very appropriate use of public
lands," she said. "I support livestock grazing when it is done properly."
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Others, however, sometimes view public lands grazing as
objectionableand one of the biggest wastes of tax dollars.
Marvel admits that roads and recreation are environmental problems too.
He said, "The reason I focus on livestock is that grazing affects 10,000 times the
acreage, especially in riparian areas."
On a recent trip to Narrow Gauge Creek, in the Deer Creek drainage
north of Hailey, Marvel pointed out that a cow requires 800 to 1,000 pounds of forage each
month and excretes approximately 60 pounds of waste a day.
The Forest Service charges ranchers $1.35 per cow-calf pair to graze
for a month and estimates its costs to implement public lands grazing at $5.81 per animal
pair.
Marvels answer to the enigma is simple.
"Well just stop grazing here, period. The people of the Wood River
Valley arent depending on ranching here for their livelihood," he said of the
Deer Creek allotment, which allows 205 cattle on 6,000 acres.
The allotment is leased to millionaire Don Bren, who owns
California-based Irvine Co.
"Should a man this rich be paying $1.35 per month per cow to graze
on your land?" Marvel asks.
According to Lynn Jacobs, author of Waste of the West: Public Lands
Ranching, a 600-page testimonial to what he terms the "devastating" effects
of cattle grazing, the answer is no.
"Ranching is by far the Wests most environmentally
destructive land use," Jacobs writes. "Unfortunately, livestocks
destructive influences are mostly unrecognized and thus uncorrected. Their geographic
remoteness and subtle, dispersed and insidious nature combine with our societys
blind love affair with cowboys and cows to make livestock grazing the most misunderstood
and neglected major environmental problem facing the rural West."
According to Blaine County rancher Rob Struthers, grazing can have
negative impacts on the land, but it doesnt have to be that way.
"Its all how the livestock are managed," he said.
"It varies with each rancher and each individual. Ranching is beneficial for everyone
if its done right."