Capital
Press
The West s
Weekly
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
VOWUME 88, NUMBER 36
WWW.CAPITAWPRESS.COM
$2.00
BATTLING THE
BLAZES
AND THEIR CAUSES
Wildfires in the
Northwest and
California *
TOe largest wildfires to date:
Washington
Courtesy of Nicole Kuchenbuch
Rancher Casey Kuchenbuch herds cattle toward his home fi eld during the Okanogan fi re, Aug. 18. More than 2 million acres of Washington state has burned this
summer, impacting scores of ranches.
• Okanogan Complex —
147,979 acres; 45 percent
contained
• Tunk Block Fire — 161,440
acres; 40 percent contained
• NortO Star Fire — 205,331
acres; 25 percent contained
Ranchers criticize forest
management, fi refi ghting tactics
Idaho
• Soda Fire — 279,144 acres;
fully contained
By DAN WHEAT AND SEAN ELLIS
California
Capital Press
• Happy Camp — 134,056
acres; fully contained
• RougO Fire — 79,937 acres;
25 percent contained
Oregon
• Canyon Creek Complex —
105,684 acres; 49 percent
contained
• Cornet-Windy Ridge —
103,887 acres; 80 percent
contained
Total acres burned *
1,070
(TOousands of acres)
*As of Sept. 2
736.9
531.2
Wash. Idaho Calif.
493.9
Ore.
Source: National Interagency Fire Center
Capital Press grapOic
J
OHN DAY, Ore. — The 105,000-acre Canyon Creek Complex fi re
south of John Day has burned a massive swath through grazing al-
lotments in the Malheur National Forest, leaving ranchers worried
about how they will fi nd enough grazing land and hay to make it through
the fast-approaching fall and winter.
It’s the main concern of ranchers around the West who are reeling
from wildfi res.
“It’s burned right through the heart of quite a few allotments,” said
Seneca, Ore., rancher Alec Oliver, president of the Grant County Stock-
growers.
The fi re — the largest in Oregon this year — tore through the Canyon
Creek area, where it burned at least 43 homes and blackened grazing
land.
“A lot of hay was lost up through that area,” Oliver said. “There are a
lot of (grazing) permittees up there and … a lot of summer ground was
lost this year. (They) are going to have to fi nd somewhere else to go next
year.”
As large wildfi res become more the norm in Western states, ranchers
who are forced to watch their livelihoods go up in smoke argue that mis-
management of federal and state lands is an underlying cause and that it’s
time for government policies to change.
A little over 2.8 million acres have burned in 122 fi res in Oregon,
Washington, Idaho and California this season, according to the National
Interagency Fire Center.
Turn to FIRES, Page 12
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Casey and Nicole Kuchenbuch and her father, Rod Haeberle, look up informa-
tion on a computer in their ranch house between Okanogan and Conconully,
Wash., on Aug. 31. They face many decisions with the loss of 6,000 acres of
grazing land to the Okanogan fi re.
MORE FIRE COVERAGE INSIDE
• S. Oregon wildfi re leaves cattle scattered
• Weather helps E. Idaho avoid wildfi re outbreak
PAGE 4
PAGE 4
WDFW hires wolf consultant, Water rule injunction
expansion considered
who closes another meeting
Blocked in 13 states,
EPA implements
rule in 37 others
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Confl ict-resolution con-
sultant Francine Madden
started her new two-year,
$850,010 contract with the
Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife by leading
a closed-door session Sept. 3
of the state’s wolf advisory
group.
The group, following
WDFW policy, had met in
public for years until Madden
convinced the department to
close the May meeting. Since
then, WDFW has re-upped
Madden to lead meetings,
conduct workshops and, ac-
cording to her contract, coax
warring parties into “mutually
By DON JENKINS
and CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Consultant Francine Madden talks with Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife Director Jim Unsworth and department
wildlife program director Nate Pamplin prior to the wolf advisory
group meeting May 21 in Airway Heights, Wash.
acceptable coexistence.”
The 18-member panel
convened at 7:45 a.m. at a
Comfort Inn in Tumwater to
hear from two speakers be-
fore opening the meeting to
the public at 10 a.m. Madden
said Wednesday she doubts
Turn to WOLF, Page 12
A federal judge in North
Dakota is considering wheth-
er to expand to all 50 states
his injunction blocking imple-
mentation of new water regu-
lations in Idaho and 12 other
states.
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency and the Army
Corps of Engineers on Aug.
28 implemented a controver-
sial rule to reconcile two sepa-
rate Supreme Court decisions
in cases involving the Clean
Water Act. The object was to
better defi ne what constitute
“waters of the United States,”
which the act gives the federal
government authority to regu-
late.
Despite assurances by the
agencies, farm and ranch inter-
ests generally oppose the rule,
arguing it will expand the gov-
ernment’s authority. Attorneys
general in 28 states joined in
several separate lawsuits op-
posing the measure.
Between states and other
interested parties, 10 lawsuits
have been fi led challenging
the rules.
Turn to WATER, Page 12