News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Southworth Brothers Ranch receives
national range management award
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photo
Southworth Brothers Ranch employees are
credited for their knowledge and willingness to
learn best land management practices.
Contributed photo
Downed poles and small logs are left along trailing
routes to minimize any erosion and improve their
appearance – while still allowing for livestock to be
herded effectively to the next scheduled grazing area.
dense stands line both sides
of the Silvies River, which
meanders across the ranch.
It didn’t look like this when
Jack was growing up. In fact,
he remembers using a tractor
to pull the very last willow
clump out of the ground, un-
der orders from his father,
when he was 12.
Jack and his wife wrote out
a three-part goal statement for
their ranch. The irst two parts
focus on community and live-
stock well-being. The third
reads: “To bring about the
quality of life and products we
desire we need a dense stand
of perennial grasses with
some shrubs. We want the
ground between plants to be
covered with decaying plant
litter. We want the streams to
be lined with willows, home
to beaver and good habitat
for trout. We want the pre-
cipitation we receive to stay
on the ranch as long as pos-
sible and to leave here as late
season stream lows or plant
growth.”
Ranch hands keep them-
selves up-to-date with recent
natural resource objectives
and goals on the forest. Con-
sistently showing a willing-
ness and open-minded atti-
tude, their daily herding and
summer allotment work has
evolved and adapted with
forest standards by individu-
ally developing and currently
using successful herding and
pasture rotation methods.
Jack and his ranch hands
regularly participate in for-
mal trainings with forest con-
sultants and range managers
on their allotments about
measuring livestock use and
stream health.
Annual livestock use mon-
itoring documents short-term
use levels from herding and
pasture rotation strategies.
Trend results are later
compared with annual levels
of livestock use to observe
successful levels of use and
opportunities for new ideas.
Increases of young willows,
beaver activity, abundant na-
tive trout and narrow streams
are welcomed and frequent
occurrences in Southworth
Brothers allotments where
cattle still graze.
Ranch hands frequently
move the cattle in collected
herds to portions of the large
pastures with adequate feed
and water. Natural boundaries
such as rim rock, ridges and
stretches of partially fenced
streams are often used strate-
gically to hold cattle for short
periods until they are moved
again. Speciic areas within a
large pasture are often grazed
in a different order each grow-
ing season through herd con-
trol to promote good plant
community diversity, health
and resilience.
As a beneit of their
land ethic, wildlife abounds
throughout their property,
which provides year-round
Your Rural Fa mily Health Clinic
Ferrioli wins national
‘Guardian of Small
Business’ award
Blue Mountain Eagle
State Sen. Ted Ferrioli
(R-John Day) was recently
presented with the Guardian
of Small Business award by
the National Federation of
Independent Business, the
nation’s largest small-busi-
ness association.
“I am honored to receive
the Guardian award from
NFIB,” Ferrioli said in a
written statement. “Small
businesses are the backbone
of our communities, and
provide countless Orego-
nians with jobs to provide
for their families.
Rural communities in
particular rely on their
small businesses to create
jobs, provide goods and
services for their families
and keep rural economies
strong.
I will continue my work
in the Legislature to protect
Oregon’s small businesses,
and provide more opportu-
nities for growth.”
Ferrioli supported the
largest tax cut for small busi-
nesses in Oregon history,
consistently opposed efforts
to increase taxes, fees, and
regulations and championed
efforts to give rural commu-
State Sen. Ted Ferrioli
nities land use lexibility to
attract new business.
“Where would small
business in Oregon be today
without Senator Ted Ferri-
oli’s leadership? I wouldn’t
even want to speculate,”
said Anthony K. Smith, Or-
egon state director for the
National Federation of Inde-
pendent Business, in a state-
ment. “Sen. Ferrioli clearly
understands the issues that
are on the minds of Ore-
gon small business owners,
and he’s always willing to
stand up for them in Salem.
NFIB’s member-business-
es are extremely grateful
for his consistent and pas-
sionate support for those
Oregonians who make up
the economic engine of our
economy.”
Rough Country Fencing, llc
Joe & Brandy Stills
CCB#211284
We do all types of fencing, corrals,
spring rehabs and much more.
PO Box 202 Spray, OR, 97874
roughcountryfencing@gmail.com
541-419-7403 • 541-408-2947
Grant County
HEALTH
Department
528 E. Main, St. E,
John Day
Monday - Friday
8am - 5pm
Karen Triplett, FNP
Services Provided:
Jack and Teresa South-
worth, owners and opera-
tors of Southworth Brothers
Ranch of Seneca and permit-
tees on the Emigrant Creek
Ranger District, recently re-
ceived the prestigious Forest
Service National External
Range Management Award.
Nominated by the Malheur
National Forest for their con-
tinued commitment to sound
management, their passion for
public rangelands and their
involvement in the numerous
different public projects, the
Southworth’s summer grazing
allotments total over 25,000
acres. Heavily timbered up-
lands and mountain meadows
make up a majority of their
allotments on the national for-
est, according to a Forest Ser-
vice press release.
The Southworth Ranch
started with a 160-acre home-
stead established by Jack’s
great-grandfather, William
Sawyer Southworth, in 1885.
It was the irst fenced home-
stead in Bear Valley and was
originally settled as a place to
provide hay for the oxen he
used for his sawmill near Fall
Mountain.
Jack’s great-grandmother,
Minnie, was the irst post mis-
tress for the original Seneca
Post Ofice in 1895, located
at the present-day ranch head-
quarters and shop.
The Southworths also ran a
store and did some freighting,
which allowed them to pur-
chase additional homesteads
that became available later.
Jack’s grandfather, Ed, and
his brother Webster “Tepty”
Southworth partnered in the
original Southworth Brothers
Ranch. Jack’s parents, Bill
and Jo, took over in 1948,
and Jack and Teresa took over
management of the operation
in 1978.
“My father wanted grass
right to the edge of the water
and nothing else,” Jack re-
calls. “The trouble was, that’s
not what the river wanted.
Soon we had a big problem.”
Without adequate vegeta-
tive protection, the river banks
began to erode. Alarmed, his
father began to deposit old
cars in the water in a desper-
ate attempt to stem the ero-
sion. It didn’t work. When
Jack took over the ranch right
out of college, he tried a dif-
ferent strategy. He decided to
plant willows and fence the
cows out.
His father wasn’t at all
pleased.
“My dad was a tough old
World War II Marine and
he was pretty well set in his
ways,” said Jack. “Maybe it
was a generational thing. Dad
tried to control the land. My
approach is to go with what
nature gives you.”
The allotment pastures
containing streams are man-
aged to promote healthy wil-
lows along the stream banks.
Ideas to maintain and increase
healthy willows and good
stream condition are most of-
ten initiated by Jack, his live-
stock managers and riders on
the forest. Jack may be most
proud of his willows. Healthy,
habitat for elk, deer, antelope,
small mammals, ish, raptors
and other birds, as well as
seasonal habitat for migratory
birds that visit their looded
meadows in the spring.
Learning the needs of
healthy natural resources on
national forest, the behavior
and responses of livestock in
the forest environment and
constructively putting them
together takes time. Jack has
allowed time for his riders to
observe livestock behavior
and appreciate the forest. A
variety of skills in Jack’s crew
also allows for other mem-
bers to help with the ranch’s
management needs other than
herding livestock and moni-
toring livestock use on forest
allotments.
Most recent experiences,
as described by rangeland
management specialists on
the Malheur National Forest,
include frequent interaction
in the ield on his permitted
grazing allotments to contin-
uously share ideas for even
further improvements toward
managing the resource. Suc-
cessful ideas to improve are
most often initiated by Jack’s
knowledgeable and experi-
enced livestock managers
after communication about
grazing standards and goals
with the forest rangeland
managers.
The current Harney Coun-
ty Restoration Collaborative
Leader, Jack can now add this
accomplishment to his grow-
ing list.
The 2010 Grant County
Stockgrower of the Year award
is one of several awards the
Southworths have received in
recognition of their contribu-
tions to agriculture. The ranch
was a recipient of the Con-
servation Farm Award from
Grant County Soil and Water
Conservation District in 2009.
Jack has also been inducted
into the Oregon State Uni-
versity Agricultural Hall of
Fame.
A7
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
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