WildEarth Guardians

Friday, October 28, 2005
Groups: After Months of Delays, Forest Service Contractor Begins Roundup of Renagade Rancher's Tresspass Cattle

Forest Service finally reaches agreement with Arizona allowing transport - Over 300 cattle have already been collected
Contact: WildEarth Guardians New Mexico Wildlife Federation

Santa Fe, NM - Despite months of delays, conservation groups are elated that a Forest Service contractor had begun to round-up trespass cattle that have been illegally grazing in on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The cattle appear to belong to Dan Martinez, who resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dan is the son of Abelardo Martinez of Safford Arizona, who had his grazing permit cancelled last year after the cattle trespassing onto the neighboring Hickey grazing allotment were never removed, and he refused to sign a new permit with a small cut in stocking numbers. Around that time, the ownership of the cattle was transferred to Dan.

Over 300 cattle have already been collected into temporary corrals. The Arizona Department of Livestock will be checking the cattle's brands to confirm ownership, and then the Forest Service will be sending a notice to Martinez, allowing him time to claim the cattle - if he is willing to pay for the costs of the roundup. If he fails to pay by the designated time, the cattle will be shipped out to an auction house for sale. Money raised from the sale will first go to reimburse costs to the taxpayers for the costs of the operation. If the costs to the taxpayers are recovered (which is considered unlikely), any additional money raised will be refunded to Martinez.

The roundup was supposed to start in August, but was complicated by the need for new agreement between the Forest Service and the State of Arizona allowing the Forest Service to take possession of any unclaimed cattle, and thus allowing them to transport the cattle on state roads to be auctioned.

Since their permit was cancelled, Martinez cattle have grazed illegally on the Pleasant Valley and Hickey Grazing allotment, damaging the land and feeding for free at public expense. The allotments are in Greenlee County, northeast of the town of Clifton, just south of the San Francisco River. These allotments included habitat for the Chiricahua leopard frog, loach minnow, and spikedace, all listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

"It's a no-brainer," said Mary Jo Miller, President of Arizona Wildlife Federation. "All of the Forest Service's constituents - including neighboring ranchers - should be offended by this kind of trespass and it is fantastic that they are taking action to stop it."

"No landlord should wait two years before evicting a tenant who failed to sign their lease, pay their rent and was vandalizing their property, said Billy Stern, Grazing Reform Program Coordinator for WildEarth Guardians. "We have put a lot of time and energy into pressing this issue and it is great to see the Forest Service finally taking steps to impound the cattle and prevent the cattle owned by this bad-apple rancher from causing further damage. It is unfortunate that the taxpayer has to bear part of the cost that will be incurred due to this delinquent and law-breaking rancher, as the sale of the cattle isn't expected to cover all the costs of the round-up."

WildEarth Guardians, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, the Arizona Wildlife Federation and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility have been urging the agency to take action since last fall, first with a letter requesting immediate action, followed by a 60-day notice of intent to sue (sent May 4, 2005) after the agency failed to act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was also noticed in the letter as they were informed about the trespass cattle and resulting damage to the threatened species, but failed to take any action.

On August 31, 2004, Frank Hayes, the Clifton District Ranger of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, cancelled Martinez's grazing permit and ordered the removal of the cattle from National Forest lands within thirty days. Hayes writes, "It is essential that your livestock be removed from National Forest System Land as soon as possible in order to limit resource damage to threatened and endangered species habitat."

"When I visited the area the impacts from grazing to Chiricahua leopard frog habitat were clear," said Stern. (See the photos above.) "The parts of ponds fenced from cattle grazing had emergent - or water-rooted vegetation - that the frogs need to lay their eggs. The unfenced areas where the cows had access had almost no vegetation. You hear people saying that the Endangered Species Act isn't working, that species aren't recovering, but there is nothing wrong with the law itself. It simply isn't being enforced by the Bush administration.

Forest Service records show that among other violations, Abelardo Martinez failed to pay his grazing fees, failed to maintain fences, and failed to fix a broken section of fence that allowed his cattle to trespass onto a neighboring Hickey allotment. Salt blocks were also placed on the Hickey allotment to encourage cattle to further trespass onto that allotment. In addition, Martinez and his son Dan also allowed their cattle to graze in pastures that were closed to cattle grazing in order to protect streams and stock ponds that provide habitat for the Chiricahua leopard frog, spikedace and loach minnow, species protected under the Endangered Species Act.

"We are tired of hearing the age old excuse that the Forest Service doesn't have the resources to get the job done," said Oscar Simpson of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "We hope that next time the Forest Service won't take a year to stop illegal cattle grazing."

WildEarth Guardians, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, and the Arizona Wildlife Federation represent more than 20,000 residents of the Southwest who believe public lands should be managed primarily for the protection of fish and wildlife.

For further information contact: Rick Erman, AZ Wildlife Federation, (602) 769-6111 Oscar Simpson, NM Wildlife Federation, (505) 345-0117

For the Forest Service Press release and statements, call 928-333-4301.

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