Friday, April 8, 2022
CapitalPress.com 5
Early start to western wildfi re season likely
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
BOISE — Drought and
low snowpacks in the West
likely mean an early start to
wildfi re season, meteorol-
ogists at the National Inter-
agency Fire Center predict.
“Due to below-average,
and in some cases record-
low, snowpack from the
Sierra into the Oregon Cas-
cades, we are anticipating an
early and active start to fi re
season,” said Nick Nauslar, a
fi re meteorologist at the cen-
ter in Boise.
The risk of large wildland
fi res will be above normal
in parts of Central Oregon
from April
to
June.
Nauslar said
extreme to
exceptional
drought, and
low snowfall
Nick
and snow-
Nauslar
pack,
are
factors.
The Fire Center’s Predic-
tive Services unit said in an
April 1 report that above-nor-
mal potential for large fi res
is expected in Central Ore-
gon through June before
expanding into Washing-
ton and southwest Oregon in
July. Nearly normal potential
is expected in the rest of the
Northwest into July.
March brought near-nor-
mal temperatures to the
Northwest, and more consis-
tent rain and snow to western
Washington, parts of eastern
Washington, and northern
Oregon.
Drought continues in cen-
tral and southwest Oregon
and much of eastern Ore-
gon, where precipitation has
stayed below normal for
more than a year. April pre-
cipitation is expected to be
above normal in western
Washington and northeast
Oregon, and below average
elsewhere in the region, the
report said.
Near-term risk in the Great
Basin is mixed, fi re forecast-
ers said. Major long-term
drought has improved but
remains across much of the
area. Above-normal precip-
itation in late fall and early
winter could have increased
the likelihood that the crop
of grasses and other fi ne
fuels got bigger from western
Nevada into southern Idaho.
But recent drier conditions
stunted some of the grass
growth, so shorter grass over-
all will limit the risk at lower
elevations.
Forecasters
said
the
Great Basin fi re potential is
expected to remain normal
through April and increase in
May and June. Weak storms
are likely to move through in
April and drier, warmer con-
ditions are expected headed
into fi re season. Early snow-
melt likely will lead to a faster
start to fi re season in higher
terrain from May through
July.
Large-fi re risk in the
Northern Rockies should
remain normal through May.
In June, risk could be
above normal if spring rains
do not come and tempera-
tures are higher than outlooks
suggest, the report said. The
La Nina weather pattern has
helped snow-water equiva-
lents stay near or above nor-
mal for most of northern
Idaho and Montana west of
the Continental Divide.
Risk in Northern Califor-
nia is expected to be normal
in April, and above normal
in May in the San Francisco
Bay, mid-coast-Mendocino
and Sacramento Valley-foot-
hill areas. Above-normal risk
is forecast at most elevations
in June and July.
Southern California’s risk
of large wildfi res is expected
to be normal to slightly below
normal through July. Live-
fuel moisture is well above
normal but is starting to
decrease, several weeks ear-
lier than usual, the report said.
Below-normal precipitation
since January worsened the
drought, and the Sierra snow-
pack is 50-60% of average.
Wildfi re-damaged ranges mean less
USDA expands
public land for Western cattle to graze feed assistance
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Though drought is top-
of-mind for many cattle
ranchers, there’s another
factor limiting forage avail-
ability in 2022: Some pub-
lic rangelands were so
damaged in the West’s
2020-2021 wildfi res that
they can’t yet be grazed
again at full capacity.
“People are scrambling
for grass, and it’s tough —
really tough,” said Matt
McElli-
gott, pres-
ident-elect
and public
lands com-
mittee chair
of the Ore-
gon Cat-
t l e m e n ’ s Dave Daley
Association.
Jack Hanson, Califor-
nia rancher and chair-
man on the Public Lands
Council, said producers
with cattle on grasslands
owned by the U.S. Bureau
of Land Management will
have to deal with drought,
but they’re likely better off
than those with U.S. For-
est Service allotments that
burned.
Dave Daley, Califor-
nia rancher and chairman
of National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association’s Fed-
eral Lands Committee, is
among those still suff ering
from 2020’s fi res.
September of 2020, the
Bear Fire tore through the
Plumas National Forest,
scorching Daley’s range.
Partly because of thick for-
est fuels, the fi re burned
intensely.
“This is not a two-to-
three-year recovery,” he
said. “This could be genera-
tional, long-term damage.”
Daley’s cattle could
not graze the area in 2021,
and he said the range still
“doesn’t look good.”
This spring, Daley and
Forest Service range con-
servationists will determine
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File
Rancher Matt McElligott raises cattle near North Powder, Ore.
how many head of cattle
can graze based on forage
and ecosystem recovery.
Daley has reduced his herd
from 800 to 500 head and
may sell more cattle.
Daley said he’s frus-
trated with how slow-mov-
ing the federal government
is at restoring burned land.
A year and a half after the
fi re, the Plumas National
Forest is still littered with
trees.
“All that dead timber
could become fuel for fi re
again,” said Daley. “(The
Forest Service’s) ability
to move quickly in a cata-
strophic situation doesn’t
exist. I don’t blame the
individuals in the Forest
Service, but the bureau-
cracy is so huge.”
In southeast Washing-
ton’s Blue Mountains,
cattle rancher Sam Led-
gerwood faces similar chal-
lenges after the Lick Creek
Fire burned his Forest Ser-
vice allotment in 2021,
halving the number of cat-
tle that can graze there.
Ledgerwood’s family
used that allotment for 37
years, so watching it burn
was devastating.
“I don’t own it, but it’s a
part of me,” he said.
Ledgerwood must now
fi nd pasture for 200 cow-
calf pairs. He’s trying to get
another permit.
“It’s nerve-wracking,”
said Ledgerwood.
Public records confi rm
wildfi res have signifi cantly
impacted Western grazing
permits.
According to Robert
Garcia, the Forest Service’s
Pacifi c Northwest regional
range and wild horse pro-
gram manager, in 2021,
wildfi res in Oregon burned
inside or on boundaries of
480,846 acres of Forest
Service grazing allotments.
The Bootleg and Cougar
Peak wildfi res also dam-
aged infrastructure, includ-
ing 197 miles of fence. The
Forest Service has received
funding for fencing mate-
rials, but ranchers say
rebuilding is slow. Garcia
said his program is working
toward a more streamlined
process to “establish fenc-
ing repair contracts more
quickly after fi res.”
Fires have also reduced
California forage, said
Randy Moore, Forest Ser-
vice chief.
In 2020, 14% of the
state’s active allotments
and 12% of active allot-
ment acres burned.
In 2021, 21% of active
grazing allotments and
10% of acres burned.
Rangeland
conserva-
tionists are currently decid-
ing what can be grazed
again at what capacity.
Suzanne Flory, For-
est Service spokeswoman,
said although some areas
require an automatic two-
year rest period, allotments
generally aren’t taken out
of use post-wildfi re.
“We just reduce the
number of livestock that’s
authorized to graze them,”
she said. They approve full
numbers again “once we
see evidence that we’ve
reached pre-fi re resource
conditions.”
Industry leaders predict
ranchers will sell many cat-
tle at auction this spring
due to limited forage.
“If you hear of anyone
with grass, let me know,”
joked Hanson, California
rancher. “I’m sure it’s going
to be a pretty dramatic sea-
son for folks.”
Livestock
ranchers
are welcoming USDA’s
expansion of emergency
assistance to producers
for forage losses due to
severe drought or wildfire
in 2021.
The new Emergency
Livestock Relief Program
provides additional relief
payments for increases in
supplemental feed costs
in 2021, according to the
Farm Service Agency.
Ranchers who have
approved
applications
through the 2021 Livestock
Forage Disaster program
will soon begin receiving
the additional relief pay-
ments. Those producers
are not required to submit
an application for payment,
but they must have several
forms on fi le with FSA.
FSA received more than
100,000 applications total-
ing nearly $670 million in
payments to livestock pro-
ducers under the Livestock
Forage Disaster program
for the 2021 program year.
The Emergency Live-
stock Relief Program
will supplement those
payments.
USDA also announced
that in addition to covering
a portion of the cost to haul
supplemental feed to live-
stock, it will cover a por-
tion of the cost to haul live-
stock to feed through the
Emergency Assistance for
Livestock, Honeybees and
Farm-raised Fish Program.
National
Cattlemen’s
Beef Association and the
Public Lands Council
requested the inclusion of
coverage for moving live-
stock to feed in a letter to
FSA in November.
“We are appreciative
that the USDA Farm Ser-
vice Agency listened to
requests from producers
who are suff ering through
the continued impact of
multiple years of unprec-
edented drought and sky-
rocketing input costs,”
said Allison Rivera, NCBA
executive director of gov-
ernment aff airs.
NCBA and PLC are also
grateful for the eff orts of
Sen. John Thune’s offi ce,
which worked with ranch-
ers to provide further fl ex-
ibility within the program,
she said.
“As
cattle
produc-
ers continue to navigate
challenges
associated
with drought, it is criti-
cal to ensure they have the
resources necessary for
their businesses to remain
viable, while giving the
highest quality care to their
livestock,” she said.
Western ranchers expe-
rience daily the devasta-
tion caused by one of the
most extreme droughts in
recent years, said Kaitlynn
Glover, executive director
of PLC and NCBA natural
resources.
“From increased risk
of catastrophic wildfi re to
lack of suffi cient grazing
lands, producers are facing
diffi cult decisions when it
comes to herd manage-
ment,” she said.
“This
announcement
comes at a critical time,
and we are appreciative
of both FSA and Senator
Thune for prioritizing the
needs of cattle producers,”
she said.
The emergency assis-
tance program originally
covered the cost of mov-
ing feed to livestock. But
for cattle producers, haul-
ing livestock to other feed
sources that are not easily
moved — such as beet tops
or corn stalks — is often a
more effi cient and econom-
ical method, NCBA and
PLC said in the November
letter to FSA.
More information on feed
assistance programs can be
found at: https://www.farm-
ers.gov .
Linn-Benton student named Agriculture Future of America Ambassador
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
ALBANY, Ore. —
Linn-Benton Community
College student Gracie
Krahn has been selected
as an ambassador with
the nonprofi t Agriculture
Future of America.
As an AFA ambassador,
Krahn will
engage with
agribusi-
ness lead-
ers, cam-
pus faculty
and fellow
students
Gracie
to
foster
Krahn
engagement
and inno-
vation in food, agriculture
and natural resources.
“I am eager to build
relationships with staff ,
students
and
agricul-
ture professionals while
advocating for AFA,”
Krahn said in a press
release. “AFA is some-
what unknown on the West
Coast, which leaves room
for growth opportunities.”
Based in Kansas City,
Mo., AFA is dedicated to
developing the next gen-
eration of leaders in agri-
culture.
The
ambas-
sador program’s main
responsibility is to pro-
mote the AFA on college
campuses and in local
communities.
Krahn was one of 32
AFA ambassadors cho-
sen through a competi-
tive application and inter-
view process. Her family
has a small dairy farm in
Albany, Ore., and Krahn
is now double-majoring
in agriculture communica-
tion and political science
at LBCC.
It was after participat-
ing in the AFA’s Policy
Institute that Krahn said
she realized her passion for
politics.
“I changed to a dou-
ble major after my experi-
ence. AFA has already had
a positive infl uence on my
future,” she said.
AFA ambassadors serve
for one year. According to
the group, AFA has pro-
vided more than 24,000
leader development expe-
riences to students at more
than 200 colleges and uni-
versities in 43 states.
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