Ranchers don’t trust BLM following Argenta dispute

By RANDY WITTE

...Ranchers contend the BLM is trying to put them out of business, being unduly influenced by Western Watershed Project, an environmental group that states on its website its “vision” is “the restoration of a wild, natural world.” Western Watershed goes on to say, “The group works to influence and improve public lands management throughout the West with a primary focus on the negative impacts of livestock grazing on 250,000,000 acres of western public lands ...”

...Much of the BLM land in the Argenta area is “checker-boarded” with deeded land and water rights owned by the ranchers. But the BLM has no qualms about closing off huge tracts of land that contain private property and Furtado, who instituted his plan for complete closure of the Argenta, simply says that the bureau is a federal agency and doesn’t recognize state rights. It was only after the Tomera family hosted a “grass tour” on the Argenta over Memorial Day weekend that some 200 elected officials and other interested folks saw for themselves knee-high grass and plentiful water on Mount Lewis that had been closed to the Tomeras and other ranching families.

“The firsthand evidence was irrefutable,” said 78-year-old Mike Laughlin, a cowboy and retired USDA wildlife biologist, who helped turn out the Tomera cattle and who still makes his living horseback, tending cattle. “This country had plenty of rain and snow at the right time and is probably the best feed ever seen on it. But the cattle were turned out about 30 days too late to graze enough grass to lessen the fire danger. This mountain may still burn from a lightning strike because of all the forage.”

Laughlin went on to say, “In the early 1970s there were 10,000 head of domestic sheep that lambed out on Mount Lewis. There were also several cow outfits in the lower country around Mount Lewis. At that time I do not remember any range fires of note and the ranchers, the livestock and the BLM seemed to be getting along. What a change in 2014! There is something wrong with the BLM management system of today.”

... Nevada’s cattle numbers have been cut in half over the last year, because of BLM land closures. Through the years, Pete Tomera and other ranchers have paid their grazing fees and complied with various BLM requests for temporary “voluntary cutbacks” on the numbers of livestock they can graze. They have complied 100 percent. No one can recall anyone who ever had their voluntary cutbacks restored to original numbers. The Tomera Ranch went from being a 6,000-cow outfit to 1,800 head cow outfit. Once the BLM cuts your cow AUMs, you never get them back. How can you stay in the cow business with this kind of a program?

Randy Witte of Peyton, Colo., is retired publisher of Western Horseman magazine, which has followed Great Basin ranching for decades. He and Mike Laughlin are friends and have collaborated on articles .

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