LMD May 2021

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Riding Herd Saying things that need to be said. May 15, 2021 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 63 • No. 5

Howl of the Wolf People LEE PITTS

N

ine years ago we told the story of a good friend of mine, Len McIrvin, and his Diamond M Ranch’s war with wolves. The wolves had first migrated into Washington state in 2002. They were not planted there but had migrated over the years from planted wolves in Idaho and Yellowstone. Len could hear the cry of the wolves at night in his northeastern corner of Washington and knew trouble was on its way. Needless to say, the howl of the wolves did not leave him with the same warm and fuzzy feeling that most people get when they see a photo of a wolf and immediately think of the dog that lays at the foot of their bed, that they take for daily walks or are just one Milk Bone away from Bow Wow, Duke, Bandit, or Precious. To Len McIrvin the blood curdling howls of the wolf sounded like the end of ranching on public lands in America. It turns out Len wasn’t just “crying wolf”.

If you expect to follow the trail, you must do your sleepin’ in the winter.

he says. “If I took their money I’d be condoning their behavior, saying it’s all right to have the wolves here. And it isn’t.” Even though Len has never killed a wolf he believes, “If wolves kill my cattle, I have a right to kill wolves.” Even if Len took their compensation it wouldn’t come close to paying for the losses because the McIrvins only find 10 -15% of the wolf kills spread over the 1.1 million-acre Colville National Forest. Even in the confirmed attacks it was hard to get the bureaucrats to say they were wolf attacks even when there were wolf tracks and scat surrounding a carcass of a two week old calf whose carcass had been picked clean, or the entire rear end of a calving cow had been eaten out and wolf tracks were everywhere.

Len’s Diamond M Ranch, fencing, range riders and fladry one of the largest cow-calf op- lines, rags tied every few feet on eration in the state, if not the barbed wire. But by 2008 Len largest, has Forest Service per- was experiencing losses as high mits to graze 736 cow-calf pairs as 20%. in just one year a pack in the Colville National Forest. of wolves known as The Wedge They’ve had those permits since Pack killed 40 calves out of 200 1945 and in all that time they’ve on just one allotment! How been the best of tenants. many of you could survive a The McIrvin family has per- 20% hit? severed through 5 generations The problem is the wolves and so far they’ve survived just won’t stay where they’re everything that Mother Na- supposed to. They aren’t like ture and the cattle market has dogs where you can just comthrown its way. But as wolves mand them to “stay”. Nor can Our Spotted Owl move up the food chain and you rub their nose in the blood Currently there are two lawdine on more and more Dia- of a baby calf they’ve just torn suits winding their way through mond M beef, Len wonders if limb from limb and say in a firm Washington courts that would the ranch can survive the natu- voice, “NO!” end the Diamond M’s 85 year ral born killers. Len says the Diamond M stay in the Colville Forest. If Len had heard all the lies you loses, on average, 70 head of Len loses he’ll have to find alread about wolves in National cattle per year to wolves, and ternative pasture for 750 cows Geographic or the Audubon estimates his losses since 2008 or else go out of business, which Blood Money Magazine: that they won’t kill at more than $1 million. The is what the wolfies want in the After that story ran Len and cattle as long as other food is wolfies say that Len could apply first place. One lawsuit deals his family got death threats available, that they don’t kill for for compensation for his losses with “the damage cows do to from the wolfies. They are peo- sport and you can scare them but Len has refused to apply for the public lands.” The second ple like the actress this year off with nonlethal measures compensation. He doesn’t want deals with the issue of whether who when given an Academy like strobe lights, guard dogs, their money. “It’s blood money” continued on page two Award responded with the howl of a wolf and all of Hollywood’s heart went aflutter. The wolfies vation would be required for an area to count even went so far as to kill some toward the administration’s 30 percent goal or of Len’s cows, as if the wolves indicate how much federal funding would be hadn’t already done enough of needed to make Biden’s vision a reality. that. It got so bad the FBI and This ambiguity is partly by design; some enthe Joint Terrorism Task Force vironmentalists said it would be impractical to began looking into the threats make that assessment at this point, and that it of violence made against Len will take time to muster the kind of grassroots and other ranchers who dared support needed to achieve such a sweeping New “America the Beautiful” report speak out. Even this reporter conservation goal. offers few specifics on how to protect 30 got threatening letters after that “I see it as a starting point that’s telling percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 story ran. us, ‘this is the direction we want to go in and BY SARAH KAPLAN AND JULIET EILPERIN this is how we want to do this work to ensure WASHINGTON POST we’re going to get the best outcomes,’” said Ali Chase, senior policy analyst at the Natural onths after President Biden Resources Defense Council. “In terms of just set a goal of conserving 30 trying to bring the country around to a conserpercent of the nation’s land vation ethic, I think it’s pretty significant.” and waters by 2030, the adThe report is less a road map than a vision ministration on Thursday laid out broad prin- statement, painting a picture of accessible ciples — but few details — for achieving that parks, ranchlands that double as wildlife corvision. ridors and farms that could also store carbon The new 22-page document from the Com- instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. It merce, Interior and Agriculture Departments lays out guiding principles for the program — highlights one of the Biden administration’s utilizing scientific research, pursuing projects central challenges: having committed to bold that create jobs — and calls for a “voluntary environmental goals in their early days in pow- and locally led” approach to conservation, in er, officials now face the more uncertain and which the federal government provides supcontentious task of figuring out how to follow port and guidance to efforts led by landowners, through on those ambitions. cities, states and tribes. The “America the Beautiful” report outlines As part of the effort, the government will steps the U.S. could take to safeguard key ar- launch and maintain an “American Consereas on land and in the sea to restore biodiver- vation and Stewardship Atlas” to track the sity, tackle climate change and make natural amount of protected land and water, and the spaces more accessible to all Americans. Interior Department will be required to pubBut it doesn’t identify specific places for encontinued on page four hanced protection, define what level of conser-

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

A Narrow Path for Biden’s Ambitious Land Conservation Plan

M

by LEE PITTS

Things You’ll Never Hear Here’s some dialogue you’ll never hear on a real working cow ranch.

■■ “Well

boys, shall we retire to the plush confines of the bunkhouse and partake of a bottle or two of Dom Perignon? I find the red summer fruit excites the palate, expresses the fruit, finesse, poise and mineralogy like no other champagne.”

■■ “Why don’t you drive and I’ll open all the gates?”

■■ “Oh

boy, I just got promoted to be on the fencing crew. Who knows, if I perform well there in 20 years or so I might be promoted to the windmill team.”

■■ “I

suppose you have a valid point,” said the husband to the wife.

■■

“Remind me to send a thank-you note to all the Big Four packers for not bidding on my over-ripe steers in the feedlot once again this week. They seem like such nice people.”

■■

Ranch owner talking to a new hire: “The job comes with a new pickup, a 72 inch television and your choice of either a new Lazy Boy or sectional sofa for the media room in your 3,000 square foot personal bunkhouse.”

■■ “I

don’t care what our calves sell for at the auction this week as long as they go to a nice person.”

■■ “Great

news honey, our banker just called and said they’re making so much money this year buying Bitcoin stock they aren’t going to charge interest on our loans for the rest of the year.”

■■ “Honey,

you’ve worked so hard on the ranch this year, single handedly raising the kids, keeping house along with your full time job in town. Why don’t we spend our stimulus money from Uncle Joe and take a two month vacation to Monaco and Paris.”

■■

Ranch owner to possible buyer: “We’re selling because this ranch never made any money, we’ve spent all my wife’s inheritance and a cow has

continued on page four


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LMD May 2021 by Livestock Publishers - Issuu