Ranchers versus federal government

A cold spring in a quiet meadow runs at the heart of a hot dispute between ranchers and the federal government – and it may be reaching a flash point. The U.S. Forest Service recently finished fencing a spring-fed creek called Agua Chiquita to lock out cattle from a sensitive habitat recovery area in the Lincoln National Forest. That prompted a fresh outcry from ranchers who say the project infringes on their water rights. The dispute over access to the shallow creek – whose name means “little water” in Spanish – has deep roots in local animosity toward federal land control, not unlike the conflict that recently prompted armed Nevada ranchers to challenge the federal government’s authority over land in that state. An attempt Friday by the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque to mediate an agreement between county officials who support the ranchers and Forest Service managers failed to reach a resolution and leaves tensions simmering. “We won’t be able to resolve right away who owns the water or if the federal government is following the law, but in the meantime, we don’t want the citizens of Otero County to take this into their own hands,” said Otero County attorney Blair Dunn, who called the meeting “disappointing.” The sheriff will pursue a criminal investigation targeting the Forest Service for “destruction of property” and water rights violations, while the county has called on Congress to get involved, Dunn said. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said Friday he would ask for field hearings and said he believed “the government is overstepping its bounds one more time.” The Holcomb family grazes about 200 head of cattle during the summer on some 28,000 acres of forest, including around Agua Chiquita. Theirs are the only cattle directly affected by the new pipe fencing and locked gates, which keep cattle out of about 23 acres around the creek’s headwaters, but the family is heartily supported by other local ranchers, the Otero County Cattleman’s Association and the county government. “I see mine as the first” family to be affected, said Judyann Holcomb Medeiros. “It’s a precedent that I want to establish that the Forest Service does not own the water. … So I want them to acknowledge they don’t have the right to fence my cattle off that water.”...more