Ranchers struggle to survive wildfires

As the Murphy and Horseshoe 2 fires run out of countryside to burn, the recovery is already starting. What has not been reported in the urban media is the devastating inmpact the fires have had on southern Arizona’s ranching community. One rancher in Santa Cruz County had lost 13,000 acres of his grazing lands so far between 2 fires…and the damage is not over. Other Santa Cruz ranchers lost closer to 100% of their grazing lands. There is a long list of ranchers over in Cochise County on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains that also lost all or major portions of their grazing lands in the Horseshoe 2 fire. The first order of business in the ranchlands was to get the cattle out of harm’s way as the fires raged across the countryside. As far as I’ve heard this was pretty successful. But now the grass is gone and there won’t be any feed available on the range until August at best...more