Wildfires throughout the West continue to burn. An incident report on Aug. 30 from the National Interagency Fire Center noted that nationally there are 104 active large fires that have burned 2.36 million acres. The number of fires noted does not include individual fires within complexes. To date, all wildfires across the nation have consumed more than 6.5 million acres.
As of Thursday, Aug. 30, the national preparedness level remained at 5—the highest level. According to the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group (NMAC), preparedness levels are dictated by fuel and weather conditions, fire activity, and resource availability. As the levels rise, more federal and state employees become available for fire mobilization, if needed.
Although the fire season has been fierce this year, losses to livestock, at least in the summer fires in western states, have not been as severe as in previous years. But although livestock have survived, producers are still faced with challenges, namely lost forage including grazing areas and hay pastures.
WLJ looked at some of the current situations. Not including information on all incidents in no way diminishes the impact of those fires on livestock producers, and local communities.
California
This year California has surpassed its all-time high acreage burned and is approaching the highest single season numbers in the nation. The Mendocino Complex Fire (comprised of two fires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire) alone tops the California list as the largest wildfire in the state’s history. Having started on July 27, it has burned 459,102 acres as of Aug. 30. But to this point, reported cattle losses have been minimal considering the scope of the fires.
Katie Delbar, Mendocino Farm Service Agency (FSA) county executive director, told WLJ that she has heard reports of cattle losses but at this time does not know how many or the names of ranchers affected. She said disaster assistance funds are available in most cases if producers can provide proof of loss. But she said at this point some cattle are considered missing, including some animals from her family’s ranch. “Missing and found dead are two different things,” she noted. “We’re hoping, keeping our fingers crossed that as we keep looking we will find them.”
Delbar said the time frame for submitting claims to FSA is usually 30 days, but there is some leniency if livestock hasn’t been found or is later located with documentation showing they perished in the fire. Additionally, she said, even without photo evidence, other documentation can often be used including Forest Service permits showing how many cattle were turned out.
In addition to compensation for cattle losses, funds may also be available for feed assistance, rebuilding fences and restoring water systems on pastures.
FSA assistance is not specific to California and Delbar said producers with losses should contact their respective county FSA offices for more information.
Colorado
In Colorado, nine fires continued to burn as of Aug. 30, having consumed 179,819 acres. Although some cattle were lost in the Spring Creek Fire that started June 27, Tim Canterbury, president of the Colorado Public Lands Council, said a program developed with the Colorado state veterinarian’s office a few years ago helped limit losses.
He explained the program, which works with fire officials and ranchers, helps to set up what he called “hall passes” that allow ranchers into fire zones to move or care for their livestock. This year he estimates at least 10,000 head of cattle were moved out of the path of fires. He noted that the Spring Creek Fire moved too fast to save the cattle that were in its path.
Nick Streigel, DVM, MPH, Colorado assistant state veterinarian, explained to WLJ, “The Ag/Livestock Liaison came about because of issues that developed from some of our wildfires where ranchers could not get access to their cattle to shelter them in place or to move them on roads that were in the fire evacuation zone.” He went on to say, “Sometimes the problem is that the incident management teams running the incident just don’t understand the impacts to agriculture and also ranchers and farmers don’t understand how incidents are run or how to engage into the authorities that run the incident. So, we developed this program with Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and Colorado Livestock Association to be able to help engage ag experts (ranchers and farmers) into the incident management structure of the incident.”
Canterbury noted that working together helps keep everyone safe, saying while ranchers want to protect their animals, they also want to avoid putting firefighters in harm’s way. Using the “hall pass” system allows everyone to know who is in the fire area and when they are safely out, he said.
Montana
In Montana, Bryan Mussard, president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, spoke with WLJ and expressed frustration that the Forest Service didn’t take more aggressive steps to put out the fires in his area. Mussard ranches near Dillon and said his cattle were situated between the Beaver Creek and the Goldstone Fires burning in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. As of Aug. 29, the Beaver Creek Fire had burned 2,074 acres and was 35 percent contained; the Goldstone Fire had consumed 9,377 acres with 22 percent containment.
Although he didn’t lose cattle, Mussard said, “The main effect is you lose [animal unit months], you lose fences, and the government employees, the forest service, all of those folks still get a paycheck every two weeks and everybody where the fire goes through has to find a home for their cattle for two years.”
He went on, “That’s the point that we are trying to get across with the management and the timber and letting them know that the canopy of trees is so thick up there that the wildlife is coming down on the private ground because the grass is limited up there as well because the trees are so thick. We’re losing AUMs at home and then when that thing catches on fire and they watch it burn all summer long—we’ve lost the resource.”
Mussard told WLJ, “We’ve got meetings scheduled on Oct. 4 with all of the regional forest heads and we continue to meet with the [Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke] about that to try to get that changed because it is an industry and it’s a shame right now what they are doing.”
But still, Mussard expressed some optimism, noting he has only had to deal with fire about one month this year compared to last year when fires started burning near the end of June and didn’t stop until mid-September.
Oregon
Robyn Smith, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association’s communications director, shared the story of ranchers, Barbara and Bill Hammel, as told to her on Aug. 7, describing the situation in eastern Oregon. WLJ summarizes the story below.
The Hammels live near The Dalles and were on a Level 3 evacuation due to the Substation Fire, which started July 17. With cars packed, they were ready to go and on the morning of July 18 they were told to leave the house. Bill, their son and a hired man stayed to help fight the fire along with neighborhood farmers, their work crews and professional firefighters. Their efforts, along with planes dropping water, helped to stop the fire about 50 feet from their backyard and up to the wall of their shop. Fortunately, both places were spared.
The Hammels went on to say that they lost all but about 20 acres of wheat, which had been cut the morning the fire broke out. Additionally, most of the cattle pasture on the home ranch was lost.
The Substation Fire went on to hit the family’s middle ranch and another pasture and wheat field and destroyed two large barns, a shop and an old unoccupied house.
Relaying the experience to Smith, the Hammels said, “We thought we were done with the fires, and then the Long Hollow Fire started on July 26, 2018, and it hit our upper ranch. We lost most of the pasture there, but they were able to save 200 acres of wheat and 100 acres of spring barley. That was what was left of our crop for 2018.
“We had to start feeding almost two-and-a-half tons of hay a day to the cattle at all the ranches. That makes cutting the remainder of the grain a little slow when you have to take almost half a day to do the feeding and then get on the combine to cut wheat.”
In total, they said, “Out of 9,660 acres that we run, we lost about 8,860 acres to the fires—that is almost 92 percent of our total ground lost.”
Finding a bright spot, the Hammels said, “We are just thankful that our home, shop, and our equipment was saved. Some people weren’t that lucky.” They added, “There is no way to thank everyone who worked on the fire around our house and shop—that includes all the neighbors, volunteers, and professional firefighters.
“The fires were devastating, but we will get through this and start planning on planting the next crop in the fall.”
Outlook
The outlook for September shows “significant wildland fire potential” in much of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. — Rae Price, WLJ editor
