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CLEAR Temp: 94 °F Wind: WNW at 5 mph Saturday, September 27, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend August 17, 2003 Cattle move through the woods in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, not far from Soda Mountain Road. There are nearly 600 head grazing on the monument this year from five cattle ranches. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Is monument going to waste? Cattle at the center of latest beef over damage to federal property By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Stepping out of his car onto a road in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Travis Wright noticed the familiar stench of cow urine. At the edge of the road, water from a spring gurgling out of a hillside had become contaminated by deposits left behind by cattle. "Every underground stream that pops out of the hill, they destroy," he said. "They’ve crapped in it, they’ve peed in it and it all flows downstream." This Central Point resident is the fourth generation of a Rogue Valley family that has hunted, camped and traversed this area long before it became a monument in June 2000. Advertisement Wright, who says he is not an environmentalist, goes to a "cowboy church" and opposed the monument’s creation, wanted to give a hunter’s perspective on what he says is the biggest threat to the land. He doesn’t understand why one county commissioner recently said she has been to the monument and found no evidence of damage by cows when evidence can be found just off the gravel road to Soda Mountain. "How Sue Kupillas can say she doesn’t see any damage is beyond me," he said. Wright has stepped into an intense controversy over the monument as the Bureau of Land Management embarks on a study that could take up to five years to determine whether livestock use is compatible with protecting the biological diversities of the monument. "Grazing is the biggest issue in the monument right now," said Howard Hunter, the monument's assistant manager. The number of cows allowed at the monument has decreased by more than one-third since the ‘70s, he said. Currently, a maximum of 800 head are allowed, although there are only 594 this year from five cattle ranches. "Cattle operators are responsible for keeping the cattle well-distributed and not congregating in the streams and wet areas and causing undue damage," said Hunter. He said there has been much debate about so-called "damage" caused by cows. For instance, ranchers have suggested that elderberry trees could be dying because of deer, elk or drought, he said. Damage is often in the eye of the beholder, he said, and the study will take a scientific look at the grazing situation. But the Wrights say they don’t need to wait for the results of the study to determine the effects of cattle on their hunting ground. On a recent excursion to the monument, Travis Wright showed marsh areas fed by springs that had been fouled by the recent presence of cows, some of which were lying within feet of the water source. He has also seen evidence of cows — a source of pathogens such as E. coli and cryptosporidium — contaminating creeks. Groves of elderberry trees, already having a hard time with the recent drought and deer and elk nibbling on their leaves, are dying all over the hillsides, unable to withstand the additional onslaught of 1,000-pound cows, he said. "They are ripping branches off them and going through them like tanks," said Wright. Hillsides are showing the effects of cows who trample up their banks and leave a trail of patties behind. "When it’s tore up like a rototiller, it’s generally a cow," observed Wright. Cattle are also eating thistles, then spreading the seeds in their excrement, he said. Within walking distance of the road, 40 head of cattle were counted, most sitting in the shade, generally unafraid of humans. Ranchers who graze cattle on the monument declined to be interviewed for the story. A rancher who has been outspoken on this issue in the past, Bob Miller of Montague, Calif., could not be reached for comment. Ranchers say privately that the issue is politically charged. One joked, "You want to write about that? Do you want to get shot?" The same rancher, who asked not to be identified, said to be wary of hunters because they sometimes confuse the hoofprints of cows and elk. She also said the dying groves of elderberry trees were the result of elk, not cows. Wright’s father, Richard, remembers when he was a child hollowing a depression in the ground and letting it fill up with fresh spring water to drink. "The country was so clean," he said. "It was so pristine." This 60-year-old Phoenix resident now finds a landscape far different than when he was a kid. His family, which helped log in the area and install the power lines, has been hunting there since the 1920s. He started noticing dramatic changes in the ’70s. "Places where we used to camp had become cow patty heaven," he said. "The cattle have just made messes of everything." Neither father nor son is calling for an outright ban on cattle, but the two do want the cattlemen to better manage their cows. "Maybe the impact would lessen if we decreased the head of cattle," said Travis Wright. But father and son disagree over a proposal to use federal money to hire a livestock manager to herd the cattle. Wright said the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, an environmental group, receives grants, so why can’t the ranchers? His father, however, thinks a business run for profit should fend for itself. Dave Willis, chairman of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, said his nonprofit organization doesn’t receive any federal funding, relying on private and foundation donations. Commissioner Kupillas said she has been taken to areas in the monument suspected of being damaged but didn’t find any problems. "The places I’ve been to I haven’t seen damage," said Kupillas. "The times and places I’ve been out there, I didn’t see the damage." She supported using federal money to hire a livestock manager, but the proposal was denied last week by an advisory committee to the BLM. While critics of the idea called it a "welfare cowboy" position, Kupillas said the government has subsidized other industries, citing farmers as the most well-known example. Without giving specific examples, Kupillas said she has seen studies that describe the beneficial aspects of running cattle. Environmentalists say cattle are generally detrimental to the monument. "Ranchers know there is damage being done," said Willis. "They just want the public to pay." Under the ranchers’ lease with the BLM, they are supposed to be monitoring their cattle, preventing them from congregating too long in one area. "We’ve got these tenants with grazing leases," Willis said. "They continue to not live up to the terms of their lease. What do we do when a tenant doesn’t live up to the terms of their lease?" Ranchers, who pay $1.35 to range a cow and a calf over the monument, pay less than if they leased land from a private landowner that charges anywhere from $5 to $10, said Willis. He was critical of a proposal that would have used federal dollars to pay for a livestock manager. Ultimately, Willis predicts the government will eventually buy the ranchers out of their leases. "It will end up being cheaper for the taxpayer, better for the land and a relatively soft landing for the ranchers," he said. Travis Wright said humans in general have been responsible for problems to the monument. He showed evidence of one hillside that he said was clearcut about 50 years ago and only recently has been replanted. On another hillside, loggers did the right thing and the new forest has almost blended into the older growth, he said. "Hunters, environmentalists, loggers and ranchers can all use this space as long as we all act responsibly," said Wright. 50 years spent fending off cows Nancy Ames Cole, who owns 1,421 acres adjoining the monument, has had a lifelong battle with cattle. She estimates her family has spent about $70,000 over the past 50 years trying to keep cows off their land. "We planted 300 to 400 trees along streams and the cows ate them all," she said. Cole, an environmental activist and county watchdog, has fenced half her property to prevent the cows from ruining her 28 springs. Native grasses in some areas have been eaten by cows, she said. One year, 70 trees that she had planted died inexplicably. After investigating the problem, a biologist determined the soil had become so compacted by the cattle that it killed off the trees, she said. Cole said it probably would be a good idea to hire a cowboy to keep the cattle from congregating in certain areas. "I think they should have a livestock manager — just who should pay for it?" she said. But she opposed the government subsidizing the program. Citing her own expenses, Cole said the public is already subsidizing the cattle industry. Cole acknowledged there has been much dispute over the cattle’s impact on the land. "Everybody has a different definition of what damage is," she said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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