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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Pauls ranching, destructive cowboying and the Seattle Times article

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  • From: me <ken@wildlanders.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Pauls ranching, destructive cowboying and the Seattle Times article
  • Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:26:32 -0700


The difference between your situation Paul and what we have here is that the ranchers here are permittees. You own the land and you managed and took care of it. But here it is different. These people abused their own lands until they became unproductive and full of noxious weeds. Since they now pay the USFS, BLM or DNR, as small as the fees are, they feel they have no responsibility for these public lands they graze. They many times are required to upkeep the fences but in most cases do not. So they graze the public lands then walk away from them.

The other issue is the cattlemen tend to think they are the God's of this country and their ranches and their cows should be given precedence over everything and everyone else. I do agree that there is a sense of culture (as well as open space) that needs to be preserved here but at the same time, their arrogance and pride takes things way to far in that direction. This applies especially to the multigeneration ranches - not all of them but a few. They think that since they were the first in the country they can do whatever the hell they want to and that the public lands are more their lands than anyone else's - that they do not have to conform to the issues facing us as a result of lost resources. It is not all the ranchers but a few. Also, this is the mentality of the corporate folks too. Only their argument is "I have more money than you or more political clout than you" and so they think they can run rough shod over everyone else. Very arrogant and prideful people and poor examples for Americans. And I hope the public wins this one over these special corporate farming interests and the few unethical multigenerational ranchers.

The truth is, we are only 80 miles from Seattle and the growth here is such that the ranchers should move out. All of this country is becoming urbanized quickly. And the big corporate ranchers do not belong in such areas. I lived in Wyoming for many years. It is easy to drive a hundred head tens miles down the road to new rangelands. But how do you drive 100 cows down the road ten miles in a city???

They do not belong here anymore. Times have changed, but these people are unwilling to change with these times and prefer to live in the past causing hardship for everyone else. There is only half the land now but these folks are still growing more and more cows. It is utterly unsustainable and now damaging not only the remaining wild areas and wildlife but also the community and how they are precieved. There is nothing the general public can do about our growth and urbanization other than to reduce population growth. But that is unlikely to occur. And so people have to adapt in such a way that we all can live together.

I can understand an elder lady trying to stay in her home when it has been condemned or annexed. Such people are not doing the environment any harm. But these psuedo corporate farmers and wanna be cowboys are destructive in all that they do. They are willing to destroy the ecology (our elk and last of our pristine desert wildflowers) just to make their profits. But a way of life that results in destruction is one that does not belong anymore. Like I said in the earlier post, it is rape and pillage mentality. Corporate mentality. And unfortunately a few of the old time ranchers (unethical) hold to that mentality as well. With that said, there might be a way to preserve some of this ranching, I would go for that, but the way these cowboys arrogantly and pridefully look at themselves as better than everyone else... that they not only think but demand precedence... well... they then become the problem to what they otherwise would call progress and an advancing civilization.

-Ken







Glad to have your input as a range ecologist. I don't post all these things
because I just happen to agree with everything,
but to provoke discussion on issues the public needs to see. As a teen in the
'50s I worked with my father with herefords on
his place, made fence by hand in east TX summer heat (endless), and in '57 we
sodded fifty acres in coastal bermuda for...

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 7/30/2008 at 1:05 PM me wrote:


Actually, I live in Ellensburg and am right in the middle of things here. The article in the Seattle Times was spot on.

I am a range ecologist and now run a native plant seed company.
As a range ecologist I am educzted to manage land (plants and the native ecology) for livestock production. Actually, I had a wildlife emphasis so I am actually a range and wildlife ecologist.

Here are some of my comments in regards to the issue.





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