DIAMOND BAR CATTLE COMPANY

WELDA MCKINLEY GRIDER'S COMMENTS ON LIVESTOCK BOARD MEETING

I attended the New Mexico Livestock Board meeting today. We were packed cheek to cheek in a room that normally would have been big enough, however today, to my glee – wasn’t big enough.

Also today to my great joy, I saw several sheep men stand with cattlemen. I saw Hispanic ranchers speak along with Anglo ranchers. I saw several generational rancher families represented, along with some newer ranchers. I saw a typically stand alone rancher grateful for the support. I saw typically stand-alone ranchers give their support. In other words, I saw the community. The community of ranchers, standing together.

My sorrow is that ten years ago we didn’t have the knowledge of the ramifications of what was coming, to stand together like we did today. We can beat ourselves up with the should have, could have issues, but we need to resolve that everyday will be like today. The government can pick us off one at a time and beat us, but they can’t beat us as an industry – as a community and they know that, and now we do.

The issue we were there to discuss was the fact that Mr. Manzanares signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Forest Service concerning and seemingly allowing the impounding of cattle from the Diamond Bar Ranch.

Although it was not specifically stated, I believe that Mr. Manzanares acted without the vote or consensus of the Brand Board. During the hour long comment period that Chairman Mr. Bill King allowed, Mr. Manzanares seemed to be the only person at the head table who was not very uncomfortable hearing the comments of the audience. I could be wrong, it could be that he was better able to hide his discomfort and it could be that his orders came from a higher power, as was whispered down the hall during the break.

We, in the industry, over the last couple of years have lost some of our warriors and certainly lately, we have been hit hard. I have been concerned that there would be no warriors to fill those footsteps and walk in the shadow. I am over that thought. A man isn’t a man until he needs to be a man.

I saw the “next generation” walk down the hall, shoulders back with great resolve. I saw the next generation act possibly with more strength of conviction than those who started the fight. I saw the sons of the pioneers get up and state that they, the Paragon, the CattleGrowers and the Public Lands Council had resolved to act together and were considering filing a lawsuit, in support of the Diamond Bar against the Brand Board as a whole and the members of the Brand Board individually.

I saw several ranchers who had abandoned membership in CattleGrowers for various reasons, look around and start thinking about renewing their membership under this new and strong leadership.

To say that I was proud of Bebo Lee, and Mike Cassabone would be an understatement. But I was equally proud of the members of the audience that spoke. I noticed that several years ago, these cowboys spoke haltingly, with shaking hands. Today, however, they spoke with the same resolve, but with better information and presented themselves better. The bad new is they have had more practice. The good news is that, even though it is hard for them to do, they have gotten good at it.

There seemed to be an unspoken consensus during the first few speakers to hold the applause from the audience, however somewhere in there, we just gave up and started applauding. This has no bearing on how good the first few speakers were, it just means that finally the audience got tired of being quiet.

Joe Delk, who is a member of the board, got up and presented a letter for consideration of the board to be sent to the attorneys with questions about the legality of the Court Order (which did not mention the Livestock Board in any way) and the MOU. Joe Delk with great emotion, conveyed to us in the audience that he was not in any way against the stand the Laney’s of the Diamond Bar were taking.

My hat is off to Joe Delk and the four additional members of the Board who seemed to be in agreement with him. In light of that seemingly agreement, however, it was Joe Delk who stood and stated his feelings. I am sure that he must know that such a stand could result in his being removed from that Board by a higher power (that would be the Governor – not God). It was he, who stood in support of the ranchers, the industry, the Laney’s and for all of us. Knowing that he had much to loose, he stood and stated his convictions and for that and for the man, I applaud. I am proud of the man, proud of his stand and proud that I know him.

Of course, I know Joe Delk sells feed. I know he plays music…and good music for us to dance by at our convention and some might argue that he knows where his living comes from. Of course I recognize that. That isn’t what I saw. He never once stated the business he was in – although we all knew it. What he stated was his convictions. What he conveyed was his feelings. He stands to loose a lot. Let us resolve to not let him stand alone.

I don’t know if the meeting was a success or not. I won’t know that until I see whether the Livestock Board stands behind the MOU or votes to rescind it. What I do know is that we as an industry, we as members of the Public Lands Council, we as members of the CattleGrowers Assn., and members of Paragon were successful in our support.

Welda McKinley Grider