Mary DeAguero

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Ranger Mary DeAguero has begun the process by which two livestock grazing allotments in the Wallowa Valley Ranger District and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area can conform to new requirements.

The two are the Mink Allotment, located on a finger ridge of Marr Flat, and the Schleur Allotment, which is split into two areas along the Upper Imnaha River and on the top of Middlepoint Ridge. The Schleur allotment contains the pastures known as College Creek, Adams Creek, Schleur Creek and Spring Creek, Middlepoint.

DeAguero must determine whether the forage on the allotments is sufficient to allow grazing. The land also must conform with the Land and Resource Management Plan.

Although both properties have supported grazing in the past, neither has gone through the National Environmental Policy Act analysis. DeAguero must address NEPA concerns, and she intends to authorize livestock forage on the allotments where the forage is in excess to basic plant, soil and wildlife forage needs.

DeAguero has proposed cutting grazing numbers in half – down to 152 head of livestock on the 507-acre Mink allotment between June 1 and Aug. 30 each year. There are no known threatened or endangered or sensitive species on the property. Approximately 30 percent of the allotment is private property.

However, although the overall health of the range appears to be improving, DeAguero’s report finds that some portions of the property have been degraded by timber harvest, homesteading practices, road construction and grazing. The proposal calls for closing all but one road into the allotment, rocking a pond site, developing off-site water for a spring source and monitoring the allotment over the next few years.

The number of cattle approved for the 2,814-acre Schleur site will be 240 head from April 15 to May 15 each spring and Nov. 1 to Nov. 30 in the fall, subject to weather and range conditions. The College, Adams, Schleur and Spring Creek areas are currently grazed using a rotational system. Middlepoint pasture is currently rested.

DeAguero’s report finds that there is a substantial amount of disturbance from past logging and historic grazing, but that the overall condition of the range is on an upward trend. DeAguero recommends a decrease in the number of cattle trailing in the riparian areas of College Creek, developing a rest and deferred rotation schedule within the four Creek pastures and site-specific monitoring.

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest staff will host a field trip to the Mink and Schuler analysis areas sometime this summer. The trip will allow individuals to view the area and ask questions about the proposal.