A Rancher, A Logger, And Economic Fate In Rural Idaho

Rancher Chris Black and his son, Justin, manage a thousand head of cattle on 135,000 acres in the foothills of southwest Idaho’s Owyhee Mountains. They spend most of their time miles apart – miles from anyone, in fact – working cattle. But this day is a little different. They’re walking to the corral not far from the small solar and propane-fueled house where Chris Black lives on and off from April through November. “Are you going to catch a horse?” Chris Black asks his son. “I’ll ride Happy,” he says. They’re saddling up so they can move a group of cattle, grazing a few miles away. Chris Black was up before daylight, and now the sun is blazing overhead. Ranching is hard work and not for everyone. He admits that. But lately, business has been good. “We’ve fared well in the last two to three years,” he says. “We’ve fared quite well.” Cattle prices are up. That means he can breathe easy for now, and put money back into his operation. Farming and ranching are known for their hard luck and slim profit margins, but for the last few years high commodity prices have buoyed the farm economy. For the most part, the Idaho counties associated with agriculture have seen their unemployment rates remain low throughout the recession. Take Owyhee County, where Chris Black’s family has ranched for generations. Here, unemployment has seldom crept above six percent since the downturn began. Four hours north, in Adams County, the story is different. The appliance store in Council broadcasts a steady stream of old country hits onto the main street. A 1960s Buck Owens classic blares as trucks pass by. But the town’s reality is less cheerful than its soundtrack. In this county, unemployment has soared from pre-recession lows of three and four percent to more than 19 percent last fall. That’s one reason I reached out to Mark Mahon, a fourth generation logger, born and raised in Council...more