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Grazing time short on Lower Hermosa Creek
Hay ranchers say cut unfeasible
Herald Staff Writer
The new adaptive management strategies that restrict cattle grazing - announced May 28 - were not made lightly, said Rowdy Wood, range land management specialist for the Columbine Ranger district.
"It was a very difficult decision to make," Wood said. "However, I believe that the management strategies will move the area toward meeting the desired conditions to maintain the forest."
The forest should see the benefits of the new policy in some years to come, but with all the damage to the grass in the area, it will take time, Wood said.
"We didn't see the desired plants in the desired amounts," he said.
The 122,000-acre area north of Durango includes the Dutch Creek, Elbert Creek and Upper Hermosa grazing allotments. About 900 cattle are permitted to graze on the three allotments annually, Wood said.
The policy will erect pasture fences at upper Elbert Creek and along Hermosa Park, change the number of permitted livestock in areas (depending on resource conditions) and shorten the 19-week grazing period by 25 days - from June 6 through Oct. 15 to June 16 through Sept. 30.
Range riders now also will have four days to rotate their cattle in three allotments, it said.
The decision to move forward with the limitations was based on the Hermosa Landscape Grazing Analysis Final Environmental Impact Statement that looked at the impact of cattle grazing on the land, he said.
According to the report, it found the effect of cattle grazing on the landscape hurt the natural resources of the area and was affecting the Canadian lynx habitat and other wildlife.
There will be an appeal period for the final decision to put the limitations in place, said Cam Hooey, environmental coordinator for the Columbine Ranger district.
The ranchers who use the land plan to appeal the final decision, said Phil Craig, whose cattle graze in the Dutch Creek area.
He said the 25-day cut won't make a difference about how it affects the land, but even a 10-day cut at the beginning of the season hurts the summer hay production.
"The reason the permits are there is so we can raise the hay in the summertime," he said.
The earlier you start growing, the more production of hay you get for the winter, he said.
"If you graze those fields off for a week to 10 days, you really won't get the quantity of hay you need for the winter," Craig said.
He said the ranchers have tried to take care of the land as best they could over the years and is concerned with only one thing.
"We have tried to install more fences and distribute the cattle evenly, but the real concern is the time limit," he said. "If they start cutting more time, in the future, it will be economically unfeasible for us to be in this business."
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