WWPBlog

In early October members of Western Watersheds Project visited the Pass Creek Allotment of the Lost River Range. We were accompanied by the district Ranger and “Rangeland management specialist” for the allotment.

At every stop we were met with a new apology for what in any other realm of public property would be considered criminal vandalism. In Copper Basin on a tour we had taken earlier the solution was “better management next time”. This time at Pass Creek, the highlighted theme was “but it is on an upward trend”.

Setting the Mood

Before ascending into the range we were taken to where a wolf had been killed for feeding on cattle.

Pass Creek

At the beginning of the allotment we were shown an ‘exclosure’ on Pass Creek that is used to trail cattle around a parcel of private property. 100 feet of the creek and its bank serve as a corral/gathering point for what I gather to be 1,660 cattle at this first cattle guard adjoining the ‘exclosure’:

The condition of the creek was dire. The widened stream made for shallow water ~ conditions not favorable to fish. Wildlife use of the creek and its riparian area has been seriously dimished. The water was not clean. The creek was blown out.

Next, we were on to the first area that Forest Service monitors consistently and refers to as the “key area” where the “greenline” (0-12 inches from water) stubble would be measured to make sure that in a high water event, the bank of the creek would not be washed away given the livestock use. Four inches is the magic number to determine whether permittees had met their Annual Operating Instructions. This is the single measurement that Forest Service currently uses on the Pass Creek Allotment in the Lost River Range to determine whether the livestock use is appropriate for this spectacular public land and its wildlife inhabitants.

The rangleland management specialist and I began taking the numbers measuring the stubble along the creek when we came across this:

There was no grass. Apparently FS doesn’t measure stubble along livestock blown out banks which exhibit 0″ of the 4″ standard FS uses as its sole data for compliance - even when they occur within the “key area”. The rangeland management specialist replied to my question about how the measure bank stability by suggesting that they might include a stream-bank stability standard next year which evaluates incised banks etc. We walked around this 60 - 80 foot length and restarted the measurement. Later we learned that of the guestimated average height of individual clumps of stubble, a total average height of 3.5″ rounds up to 4″ ~ The standard for 4″ is 3.5″ ~

Note:
Upward Trend

While the others were off and after the farcical numbers were documented I had a conversation about the cultural and economic significance of this situation. That conversation left me with the understanding that it is clear that some folks’ performance is implicated by unsubstantiated ideas about what this abuse of the public land and water achieves. It’s clear that it is these inappropriate relationships and myths that leave the health of the watersheds compromised beyond any reasonable standard and that wildlife values are in large part completely ignored - wildlife takes the short end. I don’t understand how one could stand amidst these peaks, watersheds, and potential wildlife and let this happen having the leverage and authority - the legal obligation - to prevent it.

Pine Creek

Next destination: an unnamed creek Forest Service refers to as Pine Creek. This is a headwaters tributary of Wet Creek which hosts Bull Trout.

I stuck a stick into the creek and it slid effortlessly through fine sediment about 7 or 8 inches. When I pulled the stick out of the muck, it wreaked of cow shit. Apparently this shameful - disgraceful creek turned cesspool that drains into Bull Trout habitat is on an Upward Trend. Standing there, smelling that place and looking at the water and the torn out and dying aspen in the distance was quite an eye opener:

Wet Creek

Wet Creek was more of the same. Beneath the beaver dams the stomped wet meadow was covered in cow-pies kept moist and leaching into soil and creek. The banks along the dams were stomped out hard, these dams provide a critical ecological function enabling willows and wildlife habitat to flourish as water is kept in the system longer:

The beaver must have been trapped or otherwise left the scene. Wildlife was absent the whole dam system.

~~~

A utilization cage:

IMO :

What is happening on the Pass Creek Allotment is wrong. At every level the livestock use is benefitting from favorably skewed data collection which does little to observe/document the health of alternative values. Whether you agree with the use or not, it is hard to deny the inappropriate sympathies from the data collectors/regulators who are charged with providing for wildlife values on our public lands. Our visit of the allotment demonstrated a complete disregard for the condition of these watersheds from the permittees and no regulatory mechanism by which to encourage proper management.

Some consider these peaks to be among the most scenic in the West. Being tucked within the Lost River Range affords this place the opportunity to host pristine habitat for diverse wildlife, clean cool water, and fish for all of us to have the opportunity to enjoy. Instead, these values in Pass Creek Allotment of the Lost River Range are extracted and displaced by private livestock.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 3:13 am and is filed under Activism, Bull Trout, Endangered Species, Grazing, Idaho, Livestock, Over-grazing, Public Lands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.