Ranchers fight back over grazing eviction

by Mike Bush / Mountain View Telegraph

     Three months ago, the U.S. Forest Service abruptly ordered 21 ranches to remove their livestock from federal grazing land allotments in the Mountainair Ranger District. The Forest Service blamed the drought.
     The ranchers — some of whom have held Manzano Mountains allotment rights for generations — are now fighting back. They have begun circulating a formal resolution to local governmental bodies "opposing the blanket removal of livestock from the Mountainair District of the Cibola National Forest" and calling for the formation of an advisory panel to give ranchers a say in future decisions.
     The order to remove their cattle was arbitrary, ill-thought out and economically punitive, the ranchers say...
     It was on June 11 that District Ranger Karen Lessard advised the ranchers in writing that they had to abandon their allotted national forest grazing lands by mid-summer.
     "Due to severe drought conditions that for a third year continue to limit livestock forage and plant recovery, I have decided to suspend all grazing on the Mountainair Ranger District no later than July 30, 2013, and continuing for a period of not less than one year following the return of average or above average annual precipitation that produces adequate seed in key grasses and forbs," Lessard wrote. (A forb is a broad-leafed herbaceous plant.)
     Future grazing would be allowed to occur gradually, according to the conditions of each allotment, she said. "It could take a few or more years before the maximum number of livestock authorized on your current permit is allowed on your allotment."
     However, Lessard continued, it would still be the ranchers' responsibility to maintain water systems and other improvements on their allotments while the lands are not being grazed, because wildlife have come to depend on them.
     Rand Perkins, a rancher from Corona, said his permit to graze livestock on federal lands goes back 89 years to 1927. "This total blanket removal is wrong," he told the Torrance County Commission last week. "They're using the weather as an excuse. … We've had more than eight inches of rain since July 1."
     In Lessard's letter, she said the district's range management specialist, Alan Warren, had met with each of the ranchers or their representatives "to inspect range conditions and to discuss timing of stock reduction and range inspections."
     But according to several ranchers, the only discussion focused on when the livestock would be removed — and that decision was dictated by the Forest Service.
     One rancher, Matthew Aragon, said he hadn't grazed his cattle on one of his two allotments for three years when the order came down to remove the livestock. He had been practicing "grazing management," he said, essentially holding half the allotted land in the bank to meet future needs...
     Aragon said Warren visited the Comanche Allotment and "looked at maybe 100 acres of the 20,000 acres. Even though the land had not been grazed for three years, he still felt he needed to remove us."
     He speculated that Warren was afraid other ranchers who were being evicted from their allotments might point a finger at the Jesus Baca Ranch and ask, " 'Why are they allowed to stay on?' So he kicked us off too."   
     Rancher Richard Spencer is just as angry. "There is grass," he told the Torrance County Commission. "The Forest Service is acting improperly."
     He noted that the national forest, which was closed to the public for a time because of the drought, has since reopened for all uses — except grazing. After rain began falling in early July, "all other visitors to the park have been allowed back in," he said.

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The Lincoln County Commission also opposed the blanket removal, see Lincoln County opposes Cibola grazing ban.

The following resolution has been passed by the Lincoln and Torrance County Commissions and three Soil & Water Conservation Districts.

RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE BLANKET REMOVAL OF LIVESTOCK FROM THE MOUNTAINAIR DISTRICT OF THE CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST

WHEREAS, the Mountainair District of the U.S. Forest Service has forced the removal of all livestock from Forest Service administered lands as of July 30 of this year, and

WHEREAS, this removal order affects 19 active grazing allotments in the Mountainair District, and

WHEREAS, this was an arbitrary, non-scientific, blanket removal order which did not take into consideration differences in resource conditions on the various allotments, and

WHEREAS, the ability and timing of the allotment owners to resume livestock grazing is left vague and non-specific in the removal order, and

WHEREAS, we are unaware of any other Forest Service District in New Mexico issuing such an arbitrary removal order, and

WHEREAS, the blanket removal order will wreak financial and emotional havoc on the ranchers and their families, and

WHEREAS, the economic consequences of the blanket removal order will have a negative impact on local businesses, school districts and revenues to local governments, and

WHEREAS, the Mountainair District of the U.S. Forest Service failed to communicate or consult with local governments prior to issuing such removal order,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the ________________ strongly requests the Mountainair District of the U.S. Forest Service reconsider and withdraw their removal order, and instead work with the allotment owners, the New Mexico Dept. of Agriculture and the Range Improvement Task Force at New Mexico State University to develop drought management plans specific to each allotment, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the NM Congressional Delegation, the NM Secretary of Agriculture and the Regional Forester.