Help is Needed

Help is Needed

Something that I’ve always been impressed with and proud of is the giving spirit of the ranching community when other ranchers suffer disaster. With the recent round of wild fires across the region, the opportunity is here to help.
In speaking to Okanogan County Conservation District Manager Craig Nelson there is a lot need due to the Carlton wild fire which burned up 300 square miles in Northcentral Washington. Nelson shares there have been hay donations already that have really helped the affected ranchers, but more is needed.
Nelson: “There is still a need for hay. We have folks that are getting hay now from Incident Command — and it has been a God send they are really are. But we have a long winter coming ahead of us, and a lot of these folks have lost their ability to put cattle on certain pastures because the fences have burnt — so they need fences first. And others have lost other things so that they are going to start using their winter hay now to feed their cows because they are not up on the range where they normally eat. So we are going to need hay for six to nine months at a minimum.”
He speaks to the fencing issues.
Nelson: “We’ve lost somewhere around 900 square miles of range fence and pasture fence — and I’m betting that will go above 1,000 square miles before too long. We’ve lost livestock water facilities. A lot of farmers lost crops. We are still trying to get a handle on exactly how much it is. The perimeter of this fire is so big, just trying to go out into the community and getting the information is a daunting challenge in and of itself.”
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