Cattle grazing and native trout

[Acristickid]

I enjoy fly fishing for native trout all across the lower 48. This past year I was able to pursue natives in 7 different states which required 7 different licenses. (PA’s license is a bargain)

Anyway- there was unchecked grazing in many of the areas (mainly in your national forests)- I witnessed trampling along many a stream bank and the breaking down of streamside vegetation.

I know grazing goes on and is quite prevalent but I was kind of taken aback considering some of the streams are the last refuges for some of these fish.

One in particular stands out; it was in the Modoc National Forest in extreme NE California while pursuing the Warner Lakes Redband. The stream was the size of say Cherry Run (the one near Fishing Creek) and much of the stream was trampled by free range cattle. I spoke with the fish biologist before I fished it and he mentioned it and that how there had been some restoration work done in the past. (as evidenced by the sign)

=112374343&filters[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=2&postlogin=true]Warner Lakes Redband

I got to thinking about this because of the wingnut ranchers in OR. That area is home to several native trout – such as Malheur Lakes and Catlow Valley redbands. There is an endangered Cutthroat (the Willow/Whitehorse Cutthroat) is closed to angling in the area as well. I don’t have a high opinion of these folks who live in the area and think “our” land is “their” land.

=112374343&filters[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=1&postlogin=true]Warner Lakes native

 

[lowkey]

I wonder if there is such a thing as land that belongs to all Americans....It's a nice idea, but it seems to me that the owner is the one who controls it. In this case, that's the federal government, which is a tool of the super rich.

 

[troutbert]

I saw the same thing while fishing for Rio Grande Cutthroats in southern CO.

These fish originally had a very large distribution, but are now extremely limited in their numbers and miles of stream they still inhabit.

We fished 2 small streams that we drove 15 miles of gravel roads to get to, and the one stream was about another 2 miles of hiking past where we parked.

Both these streams were "cow bombed." The habitat and fish populations would have been much better if the vegetation had not been hit so hard by grazing.

But I don't make any connection between this and those wacko criminals in eastern Oregon.

Most of the ranchers follow the rules, are not wackos, not criminals. Many are very good people.

This land is over-grazed because of the policies of the agencies that control the land.

Of course that happens because of political pressure to manage the land in that way.

If people want things to change, they will have to join organizations that promote conservation, and vote for candidates who support conservation.

And write letters, explaining what you saw and what you think about it.

Don't "write to the internet." Write to people who can make a difference. Which includes the local district office of the land agency, further up in the agency (I'd go right to the top), and the fisheries agency in that state.

 

[pcray1231]

TB,

I'm sure you knew this, but by your post I wasn't sure. Out west most cattle aren't fenced in. Free range in the truest sense of the word. If you don't want them somewhere, it's your responsibility to fence them out.

 

[jifigz]

pcray1231 wrote:
TB,

I'm sure you knew this, but by your post I wasn't sure. Out west most cattle aren't fenced in. Free range in the truest sense of the word. If you don't want them somewhere, it's your responsibility to fence them out.

Pcray, I'm not sure that I agree. Most implies that the majority of cattle out west are not fenced in. I know the majority of CAFO's are in the Midwest, but I would be willing to bet that the majority of the cattle in the west might be confined in CAFO's too. I'm not saying that there still aren't a bunch of free range cattle, there certainly are, but I'd be willing to be there are more CAFO cattle in the west than non CAFO cattle. And CAFO's are another problem all together.