Walking for ranchers

The 100-mile stretch of New Mexico 371 isn't the most picturesque route to drive. Imagine walking it. Justin Yazzie started walking Tuesday near his ranch in Whitehorse Lake, about 75 miles south of Farmington. He walked for nine hours Tuesday, 10 hours Wednesday and 12 hours Thursday. By Friday afternoon, he was nearing the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry headquarters, where he hoped to spend the night. He plans to start walking again at 8 a.m. today on the final leg of his journey, ending at his Farmington home. "I never thought I could make it," the 56-year-old rancher said. "I did it out of determination and willpower, a belief in what is right." Yazzie was targeted last year when the Navajo Department of Agriculture introduced a competitive bid process designed to lease ranch land to the highest bidder. Yazzie and at least 27 other longtime ranchers lost a collective 346,000 acres of ranch land when they were outbid in January 2010. A handful of the ranchers complained, and they continue to ranch on their lands as cases against the Nation's agriculture department work themselves through the legal system. Yazzie, who took over the 4,800-acre ranch from his father 16 years ago, walked the highway this week to raise awareness of what he believes was an injustice against ranchers and to advocate for change...more