Wildlands Fires Devastate the West

Nothing puts fear into ranchers more so than the thought an out of control fire racing across the grasslands towards their cattle, horses and homes. But this is what is going on in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Northern California. Map of current fires from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service at left.

I received this from a friend: "The fires are so bad half of Idaho is on fire half of Washington is on fire and I don't even know about Montana. Everybody's eyes are burning, throats are raspy and even the animals are suffering. I pray for all those that have lost so much, and for all the fire fighters that are fighting the fires. I hope this all ends soon."

Tom Moates, wrote a piece titled "Wildfire at Martin Black's Place" posted on Eclectic Horseman on-line, about the Soda Fire which was located Southwest of Boise, Idaho. At 285,361 acres burned, it was the largest wildfire in the country. Now thanskfully it isreported to be 95% contained.  Click on the link above which will take you to Tom's article on Eclectic Horseman.  Martin Black, a well known clinician, should be familiar to you. The Soda fire went across his property as well.   The good news is that his horse's survived - barely. Others did not fare so well.  Twenty Seven Wild Horses in the Hardtrigger Herd Management Area reportedly perished.  While the extent of the loses will not be known for awhile, ranchers have certainly lost cattle and use of grazing areas as it will take time for the grass to come back. See map, below right, from the Idaho Statesman showing the extent of the Soda fire.

The Idaho Statesman reports that many of the ranchers believe that the Soda Fire would not have grown to the size it did, nor would have done the damage it did if the BLM's range management practices would not have cut back on grazing. The lack of allowed grazing created the available fuel for the fire to grow.

There are a lot of misperceptions about ranchers grazing their herds of public land, but the facts are:

~ Ranchers pay the government to lease grazing units.  In Southern New Mexico I've seen the BLM lease a Grazing Unit for $18 an Animal Unit Month and that makes it hard for a cow operation to even sustain itself let alone make a profit;
~ Ranchers are much better stewards of the land than bureaucrats will ever be as they live on it or next to it and they need it. 
~ And, under grazing creates conditions for devastating fires.

In any event there are ranchers and families that have lost their livelihood. If you would like to help out with goods, services or a monetary donation, you can go to the Owyhee Cattlemen’s Association website or you can write a check and mail it to Owyhee Cattleman’s Heritage Foundation, P.O. Box 400, Marsing, ID 83639.