Cle Elum ag escapes heavy damage in fire

ELLENSBURG - Cattle ranchers northwest of Ellensburg lost pastures for grazing along with fencing and equipment because of the Taylor Bridge Fire.

But it appears other segments of the commercial agriculture industry in Kittitas County escaped major damage.

The loss of pastures in the fire's path hasn't been quantified, but officials say an inventory of damage done to natural resources is on a long list of tasks to be accomplished after the fire is out.

"We have reports that cattle ranchers quickly moved out their herds to irrigated ground and other, safer pasture," said Tip Hudson, regional Kittitas County-WSU Extension specialist in rangeland and livestock management. "Right now, we don't have information on any cattle from a commercial operation that were actually killed directly by the fire."

Sam Kayser, Kittitas County Cattlemen's Association president, said there's been no reports, to his knowledge, of major beef cattle or livestock losses.

"I think people were very zealous about staying ahead of the fire and getting their livestock out," Kayser said. "Everyone should be commended, the owners, neighbors, all kinds of volunteers, and all the firefighters. Things could have gone the other way."

Canal fire break

As the fire went to the southeast, it mostly stayed in non-irrigated areas, including sagebrush and shrub-steppe lands north of the Kittitas Reclamation District canal, Hudson said. This area also includes pastures.

Flames that may have jumped across canals in the Dry Creek-Lower Green Canyon area into irrigated fields later went out when they hit wet ground and green plants, according to Ken Hasbrouck, the Kittitas Reclamation District manager.

"I haven't seen or heard of any significant damage to an agricultural business that's of commercial size," Hasbrouck said.

As a precaution, herds of sheep belonging to the Simon Martinez Livestock Co. of Moxee grazing in the Teanaway Ridge area last week were transported by trucks out of the area, about 20 days short of their normal grazing period, Hudson and Kayser said. The wildfire was prevented from going into the Teanaway.

Hudson said the state and federal agency definition of "commercial" in connection with ranching and farming is selling in a year's time a minimum of $1,000 in agricultural products.

It's possible there are many small farm operations in the burn area that might meet the definition and be eligible for a variety of federal help.

Recognition of losses

Hudson stressed that in no way should his comments about the fire's effects on commercial agriculture be interpreted to minimize the tremendous losses that owners of smaller acreages of rural lands have suffered, including destroyed homes, barns, outbuildings, fencing, vehicles and several other property improvements and equipment.

Hudson said he's received reports that pastures used by a commercial rancher near the intersection of U.S. Highway 97 and Smithson Road were damaged.

Other acreages of pasture for cattle and horse grazing were reported lost in the Dry Creek and Lower Green Canyon area but have yet to be officially identified.

Various media also have reported that a ranching operation along state Route 10 a few miles southeast of where the fire started lost an estimated $100,000 in stored feed hay.

Hard decisions

Hudson said losing pasture means a rancher must decide whether to buy expensive hay to fill the feed loss, or increase costs by leasing unburned pasture lands.

Jack Field, executive vice president of the Ellensburg-based Washington Cattlemen's Association, said it appears most, if not all, of the commercial cattle in the burn area have been accounted for.

"Those ranchers dependent upon pasture to finish out this year's grazing have to come up with a short-term grazing plan right now," Field said. "Then they have to figure out what they'll do for 2013."

Hudson said representatives of several private agricultural groups and local, state and federal government natural resource agencies and county government officials met Monday at the state cattlemen's office. They brainstormed what rural landowners will need in the immediate future to conserve their burned lands and how to protect, reseed and rehabilitate natural areas run over by flames.

"The next step for those in the agriculture community and who manage natural resources is to get out there after the fire is out and really document what's been damaged," Hudson said.

He said this effort will include contacting the owners of wooded and forest and range property between Cle Elum and Ellensburg, and north of Cle Elum with lands damaged by the fire.