SPOKANE AG EXPO-PACIFIC NW FARM FORUM SPECIAL SECTION
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016
Hage
grazing
conspiracy
ruling
overturned
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
A ruling that faulted the
federal government for con-
spiring against a Nevada
rancher and his estate has
been overturned by the 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 2013, a federal judge
ruled that the U.S. Forest
Service and Bureau of Land
Management deprived ranch-
er Wayne Hage, who died in
2006, of his due process rights
and water rights.
Hage’s battle with the fed-
eral government is often seen
as symbolic of the broad-
er “Sagebrush Rebellion”
among ranchers against feder-
al land management.
Signifi cantly for other
Western ranchers, the 9th Cir-
cuit has now ruled that cattle
can’t incidentally graze on
public lands when accessing
a rancher’s private water right
on federal property.
This holding creates con-
fusion among ranchers who
also own water rights on pub-
lic land, as the 9th Circuit
reached the opposite conclu-
sion from the U.S. Court of
Federal Claims, said Brian
Hodges, an attorney with the
Pacifi c Legal Foundation, a
nonprofi t law fi rm that spe-
cializes in property rights and
has tracked the Hage litiga-
tion.
“You’re told by one court
that you can do it, but by
another one that you can’t,”
Hodges said.
The 9th Circuit’s fi nding
reinforces the federal govern-
ment’s control over its proper-
ty, said Hillary Hoffmann, an
environmental law professor
at Vermont Law School who
fi led a brief in the case on be-
half of the Natural Resources
Defense Council.
If ranchers want to access
their water rights, they must
get permission from federal
agencies to build pipelines or
bring livestock onto the land,
she said. “The federal govern-
ment holds the cards as far as
allowing access.”
Hage and his estate have
seen major victories and de-
feats in their legal fi ghts with
the government, which have
Turn to HAGE, Page 12
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S TANDOFF EXPOSES
URBAN , RURAL DIVIDE
DISCONNECT
Western producers
don’t support the
Malheur takeover,
but hope urban
dwellers take heed
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
P
Harney
Multnomah
A tale of two counties
U.S. Census Bureau data from 2014 illustrates key differences between urban and rural Oregon.
Multnomah County
Item
Harney County
776,712
Population, 2014 (estimate)
7,126
735,332
Population, 2010 (April 1 estimate)
7,422
5.6%
Population, percent change (April 1, 2010-July 1, 2014)
-4%
39.9%
Bachelor’s degree or higher (age 25 or greater, 2009-2013)
15.6%
$271,600
Median value of owner-occupied homes (2009-2013)
$112,300
$52,511
Median household income (2009-2013)
$38,113
431.3
Land area in square miles (2010)
10,133.2
1,704.9
Persons per square mile (2010)
0.7
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
ORTLAND — In the
South Waterfront dis-
trict, where new high-ris-
es mark the convergence
of Oregon Health and
Science University’s expanding
presence and the $1.5 billion Ti-
likum Crossing bridge and new
MAX train Orange Line, the only
juniper in sight is a mobile food
cart at the base of the aerial tram
that whisks riders to the top of “Pill
Hill,” as OHSU’s main location is
known.
The food cart Juniper — “100%
gluten free,” a sign promises —
does a brisk business among the
doctors, nurses, medical students,
visitors and patients who converge
here. With a name like Juniper, is
there any connection to Eastern
Oregon, where juniper trees rob
the range and hillsides of scarce
water, crowd out native grasses
and bedevil ranchers?
The cart operator, a cheerful
young woman with a nose ring,
says no. The owners once had a
drink fl avored with juniper berries,
and enjoyed it so much they chose
that for the business name.
Not to put too fi ne a point on
it, but that illustrates the casual
Turn to DIVIDE, Page 12
PHOTO: A truck travels down a
street Jan. 4 in Burns, the county
seat of Harney County, Ore.
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Rick Bowmer/The Associated Press
Grazing fee protest may have long-term impact
Material contract
breach may
disqualify ranchers
from public land,
expert says
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Harney County rancher
Travis Williams says he’s
“riding the fence” on a recent
anti-government proposal to
stop paying fees for grazing
on public lands.
Armed protesters occu-
pying the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge headquarters
in Southeast Oregon have
urged local ranchers to tear up
their grazing contracts with
federal agencies to challenge
the government’s control over
the area.
Williams said he doesn’t
support the protesters’ ac-
tions, such as removing fenc-
es at the refuge, but thinks the
grazing fee proposal may be a
legitimate form of protest.
“If there’s enough people
involved, I think it would
work,” he said.
On the other hand, Wil-
liams is concerned about how
violating grazing contracts
with the federal government
would affect his two sons and
daughter, who hope to run the
family ranch someday.
“My actions right now are
going to play over to their fu-
ture,” he said.
The consequences of us-
ing federal grazing allot-
ments without paying the
required fees can be serious
and long-lasting, said Scott
Horngren, an attorney with
the Western Resources Legal
Center who has represented
Turn to FEES, Page 12
Capital Press fi le photo
Cattle graze in this fi le photo. Ranchers and legal experts worry
that withholding government grazing fees could have a long-term
impact on ranches.
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