Legends Never Die” Memorial for Stanley Eugene Ceresola

The Life and Times of a True American Cowboy by Jill Ceresola Scofield

I’m not sure how old I was the first time I thought my dad was immortal.

Maybe it was one of the many times I saw him rope a mustang on a ridge throwing an impossible loop that would have resulted in a missed catch by anyone else. Or when he would rope and drag a cow or bull of any size just as if it were a 300-pound calf. Maybe it was how he was a champion in everything he did, including being a world champion team brander. Or how even into his 70s, he could rope and ride with the best of them, a prolific cowboy whose legend and reputation preceded him everywhere he went. So no, I’m not sure how old I was or what specific event in life that made my sisters and I believe it, but we thought dad would live forever. Sadly, it turns out he wasn’t immortal after all. Stanley Eugene Ceresola passed away unexpectedly on February 21, 2021. He leaves behind a legacy of cattle ranching and cowboying, and is greatly missed by both his family and his friends, most of whom considered him family. His are the kind of boots that can never be filled; his saddle one that will forever be empty. Dad’s life and legacy really centered around being a cowboy; it’s what defined him over everything else. Born about a century too late, he was more comfortable on a horse than on the ground, always eager to be “off in a cloud of heifer dust”. He was perfectly at home at cow camp – no electricity, the only warmth coming from a camp fire, and a bedroll laid out on the ground. To him, this was a greater luxury than a five-star resort. Dad was born to Bill and Dorothy Ceresola of Wadsworth in 1946, and his brother Steve and sister Linda later joined the family. The Ceresola Brothers were a large family of ranchers who ran cattle in the Nevada high desert, and who provided a life for dad that he was made for. Ranching and cowboying permeated every part of his life. Even when he moved on from ranching himself, dad never hung up his cowboy hat and remained a top hand for many ranchers both friends and family, as well as for Cattoor Livestock wild horse gathers. They say you’re only as young as you feel, and if that’s true, dad was still a 25 year-old cowboy who could rope and ride with the best of them any day of the week. But dad had other talents as well, and basketball was one of them. He was an All-American basketball player in high school, and went on to be a starting player for the University of Nevada Reno basketball team. The cowboy life, however, always called to him, and he left college and basketball behind to follow his true passion. Aside from cowboying, family was his life. In 1965, he married the love of his life, Judith Lyon. From that December day began five decades of a loving marriage that resulted in four daughters – me and my sisters Sheila, Sandy and Jaci - six grandchildren, and enough laughter and memories to last a hundred years or more. If you knew my dad, you knew he was the life of the party, and that his stories were legendary. Holidays, family gatherings, or friends coming together weren’t complete until he started story telling. Whether he was sharing his escapades of outsmarting the nuns in Catechism, telling one of many tales about a mustang or rangy cow that just about killed him or one of his hands, or him and mom living through near-death experiences in New Orleans, Barbados, and other vacation destinations, each story was uniquely Stan and left the lucky listener crying with laughter. Dad was loved by a wide circle of friends. One of his best friends for many years, and a man who my sisters and I consider family, was Dave Stix. “I knew Stan since I was 13 or 14 years old, and thought he was probably the best cowman I ever worked with. I’ve never known anyone who could handle cattle outside on the open range like he could,” Dave recently told me. “But above that, he was just a great person. He was always so thoughtful and would give you the shirt off his back, and for all the years I knew him, he paid special care and attention to the older generations. I always admired that about him.” The last weekend of February, on a bone-chilling, frigid day, we gathered to remember and honor the man we called dad and grandpa, who many others called a hero and friend. It was “Stan’s Last Branding.” Ranchers and cattlemen and women from Nevada and beyond gathered with us to celebrate the life of one of the west’s last great cowboys. As dad’s casket was lowered into the ground that cold, sad day, it was marked with nearly 100 brands of fellow ranchers, both family and friends. Those brands now rest easy with him, forever. Two weeks after he was laid to rest, the Fernley High School rodeo honored dad with a tribute. His longtime friend and top hand Sid Kochamp led his horse, Buck, around the arena, riderless forever. Dad helped bring high school rodeo to Fernley, and paved the way for cowboys and cowgirls to continue competing in the venue today. I hope many of us think of him when we’re on those rodeo grounds. I know I will. Stan Ceresola was one of too many other heroes in the cattle industry and cowboy (and cowgirl) world who have passed in recent years. We know we are not alone in our grief, because too many other friends throughout Nevada have also experienced it recently. I think what brings us all comfort is that we know there’s a hell of a branding or roping going on in heaven. Dad, you were one of a kind and your loss will be felt by all of us for the rest of our lives. I hope you’ve felt the love for you that has been shared these last several weeks as we’ve mourned. You were larger than life, leaving a hole too big to fill. It was a good ride, cowboy.

Early years of Stan on the Ceresola Ranch with his dad, Billy.

USFS grazing permit ‘directives’ contain tiny details

By Joy Ufford | jufford@subletteexaminer.com

People have extra time to review and submit comments on the U.S. Forest Service’s new handbook of proposed nationwide “grazing directives”, until April 17.

The original deadline to comment on the USFS’s “Grazing Permit Administration Handbook” was extended to give more people time to study the details. The manuals and handbook are being updated after 30 years and rewritten to clarify rangeland management directives for its employees, according to USFS National Press Officer Babette Anderson. Any grazing permittee with questions should talk to his or her local Forest Service rangeland manager, she said. “The proposed updates to FSM 2240.3 add clarification to existing policies regarding rangeland improvements. No additional requirements are being added to permittees,” Anderson replied in an email in response to questions submitted by the Sublette Examiner. The portion referred to here is for “grazing agreements on national forests in the western regions” that some western legislators have called “lengthy and complex.” Details in the proposed handbook might clarify permit processes for USFS employees but could be confusing to the permittees they will advise. For example, the grazing directives explain how a ranching family or corporation can plan to divest half of its permits to a child – or newly included – a grandchild. Wyoming Stock Growers Association’s Jim Magana said he did not see “any major negatives at this time.” One of “the most significant improvements,” he said, is the path to pass up to 50 percent of an original rancher’s grazing permits on to younger generations – “facilitating the transfer of permits from one generation to the next in a family by allowing grazing of livestock owned by children or even grandchildren for a period of time.” The handbook’s summary says including grandchildren “helps families where the children left the ranch but their kids want back in.” “For the most part, I feel that the changes are positive for FS permittees,” Magagna said. “There is a lot of emphasis on increasing communications.” Pinedale rancher and Wyoming House Rep. Albert Sommers agreed: “Most of the management directives that I have reviewed seem positive.”

EASEMENTS Families and corporations with term grazing permits should consult with the USFS for estate planning. Only a “family” – not a corporation or a trust as many family ranches operate – can be eligible for conservation easements, for example.

Question: The directives talk about a “conservation easement ranch family” – does this mean the ranches can’t have a corporation or trust, which is how many families set up their businesses?

Answer: “Conservation easements have become more common as a land conservation tool with more landowners entering into conservation easements. The Forest Service should not be engaged in the negotiation of conservation easement terms, but information was included in the proposed updates at section 12.21(a) to provide employees with a basic knowledge of conservation easements as we anticipate that it would be helpful relative to grazing permit administration and base property qualifications.”

RANCH BUSINESSES More directives inform employees about how ranching businesses might be organized to best serve the families.

Question: Many have the basic president, vice president, secretary and treasurer – and don’t have other family members listed as parties, assuming they are because they are “family.” Do they have to add every person’s name to a corporation for the child or grandchild to be considered eligible for acquiring up to 50 percent of the permit?

Answer: “There are many ways that individuals choose to organize their business. The Forest Service should not be engaged in those business decisions but instead communicate what requirements must be met to qualify for a term grazing permit. Section 12 discusses the types of entities that may be eligible to hold a term grazing permit and what requirements must be met to obtain a term grazing permit.”

Question: How do people with ranch corporations who want conservation easements have to maneuver through this?

Answer: “We assume you are referring to the opportunity for children and/or grandchildren to run up to 50 percent of the permit holder’s permitted animals. This is an expansion of the opportunity that has always been provided to children of a permit holder. To clarify, this provides an opportunity to place livestock on the permitted allotment under the existing permit and is not associated with the children or grandchildren ‘acquiring’ a portion of the permit. “In order for an individual to obtain a permit or portion of the permit, the permit holder waives the permit, or portion thereof, back to the Forest Service, who would then issue a new permit to the child or grandchild so long as that individual meets the eligibility and qualification requirements (e.g., owned livestock and qualified base property). That process has not changed with the proposed updates to the rangeland management directives. “However, the updates also include the ability for the parent or grandparent to run up to 50 percent of the permit holder’s permitted animals. Meaning, once the child or grandchild decides that they would like to run greater than 50 percent of the permitted numbers, they could obtain ownership of the base property and work through the process to obtain the term grazing permit, after which the parent or grandparent could run under their permit. The intent of the proposed updates is to provide additional flexibilities to facilitate succession opportunities.” NOT PEOPLE

Question: If corporations are “not people and thus cannot have children” – do they have to change to a non-business entity for a child or grandchild to pick up some of the operations? This could affect a lot of families’ businesses.

Answer: “Section 12.22 does not prohibit permittees from following the process described above. There may be additional opportunities for the children and/or grandchildren to become part of the corporation or other business entity. The best approach for permittees who are considering making changes to base property or livestock ownership is to contact their local Ranger District office to talk about what requirements must be met to continue to be qualified to hold a term grazing permit. “There are many variables involved and the District Office can inform prospective permittees on what flexibilities exist within Forest Service policies that may pair with their business decisions related to their base property.”

COW CAMPS

Question: Why is there a new section on administration of cow camps?

Answer: “Forest Service employees are the primary audience of the rangeland management directives. It has been approximately 30 years since the directives have been updated and we have noticed questions about cow camps coming up several times over the years, especially cow camps that could be considered historic. The updates are intended to provide clarity and explain how cow camp maintenance requirements may or may not have to change after they reach 50 years of age as well as a discussion on the manner they can be authorized depending on the ownership of the facility.”

Question: What new requirements specifically are being added to the permittees’ plate?

Answer: “The proposed updates to FSM 2240.3 add clarification to existing policies regarding rangeland improvements. No additional requirements are being added to permittees.”

For more... The proposed Grazing Permit Administration Handbook and information to comment are at www.fs.fed.us/rangeland-management/ directives.shtml