Win for Oregon Ranchers
It's always nice when common sense and production agriculture prevail in a controversy. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about a ruling that goes in the ranchers win column. Oregon ranchers that have grazing allotments on the Malheur National Forest have been anxiously waiting for a ruling on an injunction filed by several environmental groups to stop cattle access to nearly 300,000 acres. Checking out a website (www.eponline.com) I found the determination an Oregon Federal District Court judge had made on June 15. The news was good news for about 17 ranchers in Grant County, Oregon. Judge Ancer Haggerty decided the environmental groups including The Oregon Natural Desert Association, Western Watersheds Project, and the Center for Biological Diversity had not shown "that all grazing must cease" on grazing allotments but that ranchers and the Forest Service had demonstrated grazing would not harm threatened steelhead trout. This ruling is not only a win for Grant County ranchers, but it should provide some help in other third party lawsuits involving grazing on federal lands in the rest of the United States. This time steelhead trout were used as an excuse by these radical groups to remove cattle from federal lands. Next time another species will be used to try to further their agenda, so it is nice to see this outcome that basically says responsible livestock grazing and wildlife are compatible. Of course, ranchers already knew this from the large numbers of wildlife on their own ranches. I'm Jeff Keane.
