SEPTEMBER 2007: AROUND THE STATE
Drought, fire push counties
VALE In August,
Malheur County became the fifth Oregon county to declare an
emergency as drought conditions and high temperatures continue
to sap ranch and farmland and spark wildfires throughout the
region. Harney, Union and Klamath counties declared fire and
emergencies in July, and Baker County declared a drought
emergency in May.
In Malheur, county judge Dan Joyce says that more than 200,000
acres of rangeland have been ravaged in his area by either fire
or drought. Average annual rainfall is 6 to 7 inches, but there
have been only 2 inches so far this year. Drought forecasts see
little change in conditions through the fall, and surface water
availability is getting worse.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a few more
declarations before the summer is over,” says Jim
Johnson, water quantity specialist for Oregon’s
Department of Agriculture. The counties are asking for state
and federal disaster relief. Johnson says the governor is
expected to declare a disaster in those counties and to ask for
federal aid.
Joyce says Malheur’s $80 million cattle industry is
reeling. Alfalfa output is down, burned out rangeland
can’t support cattle, and because of the drought, meadows
and pasturelands have not had green grass since a year ago.
He adds that there have already been forced sales of
cattle because of feed scarcity. “One of the ranchers who
has been here for 75 years said it’s the worst drought in
his lifetime.”
“We ran out of water three weeks ago,” says
Margene Eiguren, of Eiguren Ranch near Arock in southeast
Oregon.
“Our range reservoirs are dry. If we don’t get a
good winter, we could end up with no water for grazing. If the
drought continues, we’ll have to liquidate these cows. If
you have to liquidate the cows, you liquidate your means of
making a
living.”
ROBIN DOUSSARD
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