Via pienpolitics Calif. cattlemen scramble to save herds, find feed Aug 31, 2013 Agriculture - California, cattle, Federal gov & land grabs, Forestry & USFS Capital Press Posted: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 10:48 AM By Tim Hearden Capital Press SONORA, Calif. — One of the largest wildfires in California history has displaced or killed hundreds of head of cattle, burned up federal grazing allotments and devastated commercial timberland, including 12,000 acres owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. At least a half-dozen ranchers lost their permitted grazing land and were scrambling to get their animals out of the way of the 280-square-mile Rim Fire, which was burning near Yosemite National Park and was about 20 percent contained as of Aug. 27. Some cattle producers have not been able to find all their animals. Among them were Sherri Brennan, a rancher and Tuolumne County supervisor. “We are anticipating some losses just because of the area that we’re in,” Brennan said. “These cattle are moving quite a bit. We’ve brought out some of our neighbors’ cattle, so we’re hoping some of ours have surfaced. But there are some ranchers that have had really substantial losses.” Along the Highway 120 corridor, one family lost a cabin, a corral, water systems and an untold number of cattle, said Dick Gaiser, president of the Tuolumne County Farm Bureau. “I know people have been finding pockets where there’s 25 or 30 cattle dead,” Brennan said. “There’s going to be a lot of that.” The nearly 2-week-old blaze — now the seventh-largest California wildfire in records dating to 1932 — was threatening about 4,500 structures and had destroyed at least 23 as of Aug. 27. Thousands of firefighters have arrived since the fire erupted Aug. 17 west of Yosemite in the Stanislaus National Forest, where the slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range begin to rise above the eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley. The fire’s 300-foot walls of flame have swept through steep river canyons and stands of thick oak and pine, closing in on Tuolumne City and other mountain communities. The fire has also threatened the main reservoir serving San Francisco, prompting Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for the city. Sierra Pacific owns 18,000 acres of private timberland in the area, of which 12,000 acres have burned, spokesman Mark Pawlicki said. The Anderson, Calif.-based company has not yet estimated a dollar amount for the loss. “The smoke is so thick we can’t assess it yet,” Pawlicki said. “We’re doing rough estimates.” SPI’s foresters have been out helping the firefighters by providing maps and designating fire breaks, Pawlicki said. The company can harvest burned areas once the fire is out, and will stop harvesting green timber in the area until the burned timber is salvaged, he said. The destruction of federal grazing land has forced producers to bring their cattle down from the hills a month or two early, which will leave them scrambling for hay and other supplemental feed. The local Farm Bureau has teamed with the Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority to put out an appeal for hay and other feed. The organizations are willing to pay market value, though donations would be appreciated, Gaiser said. Those with feed to sell or donate are encouraged to call Gaiser at (209) 984-5922 or (209) 541-8098. The USDA’s Farm Service Agency has been in contact with county Agricultural Commissioner Vicki Helmar’s office about disaster assistance, which will become available after the county quantifies losses, Helmar said. “We’re all trying to get as much information as promptly as we can,” she said. “Things are changing daily. We have all kinds of evacuations going on. This is a fire that has many fronts, so it’s difficult.” Ranchers with federal grazing allotments typically aren’t allowed to bring their animals onto fire-scorched land in the first year after a blaze, but the county will urge the U.S. Forest Service to let livestock back in as quickly as possible, Brennan said. “Come next spring, there’s going to be some real issues with trying to find feed,” Brennan said, adding there could be lots of displaced cattle. For SPI, it’s the second straight year that a large swath of timberland has been damaged by fire. Last year’s Ponderosa Fire in Northeastern California burned 17,600 acres of SPI-owned timberland — the worst damage the company has ever seen from a wildfire. The company spent nearly a year salvaging the trees left standing. The bark protects the wood inside, so trees can still produce lumber even though they’ve been killed. The latest wildfire only underscores the need for better management of federal forest lands, Pawlicki said. “We’re just seeing … drier conditions, particularly on federal land where we’re seeing this massive fuel buildup,” he said. “It gets roaring hot and burns onto our land. It’s just more evidence that these lands need to be managed.” Timber can’t be insured, Pawlicki has said. Cattle on grazing allotments can, Gaiser said, but the premiums are too cost-prohibitive when you consider the rarity of wildfires. “But if they don’t start doing something about these forests, you’re probably going to see more of it,” he said. Current California fire information: cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_current
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 04:33:45 +0000
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