DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

Sherry Laney's horses

Dear Friends,

I just received a rather distressed call from Sherry's mom. The contractor hired by the USFS to gather cattle on the Diamond Bar is continously leaving all gates open which connect from deeded to public lands.

In the process 14 of Sherry's saddle horses have been "gathered" and are now held by the USFS. Some are colts which Sherry recently castrated, they are still swollen, and had been kept on deeded land by her house so she could easily feed them.

Sherry Laney was told by the USFS that she could have her horses back for $650 a head.

Please pass this information on to anyone on your mailing list.

Thank you. Monika Helbling at rabbitbrushranch@yahoo.com

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The Associated Press State & Local Wire


March 27, 2004, Saturday, BC cycle

3:18 PM Eastern Time

Roundup nets more cattle, horses; petition circulates

SILVER CITY, N.M.

A group of contract cowboys continued searching the mountain sides and deep canyons Saturday for livestock at the center of a battle over grazing on an allotment in the Gila National Forest.

Forest spokeswoman Andrea Martinez said 354 cattle belonging to Kit Laney and his ex-wife and ranching partner Sherry Farr have been rounded up, and more than 250 of those have been shipped to an auction barn.

A group of horses were the latest of Laney and Farr's animals to be impounded this week.

"The horses were on national forest land," Martinez said. "From the very beginning, we knew there were the 14 horses and the livestock on forest land."

Forest officials said the impoundment is about 90 percent complete and they expect the cowboys in another week or two to round up the remaining animals, some of which are roaming the outer reaches of the Diamond Bar allotment.

Farr and Laney don't hold grazing permits for the allotment, about 85 percent of which is within designated wilderness. They own private land within the allotment and contend they have grazing rights based on historical use of the land.

Courts have ruled against them numerous times. The most recent ruling came in December, when a federal judge ordered the cattle to be removed.

Laney, arrested this month after an altercation with federal officers, remains jailed without bond. He's accused of charging his horse at Forest Service officers and trying to tear down a corral holding some of his cattle.

A group of residents in Sierra County is circulating a petition refuting the judge's decision to hold Laney without bail.

"We the citizens do not feel threatened in any way, shape or form and do thereby testify to the good character of Kit Laney," the petition reads.