"This is a terrible situation. For someone like Doug Furtado to just decide with no hearings, no anything, on his own, to destroy those families, it's not right and cannot stand," said Elko County Commissioner Grant Gerber. He is also the attorney for six ranch families near Battle Mountain who were recently told that they couldn't turn out any cattle onto the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Argenta Allotment.
Battle Mountain BLM office manager Doug Furtado made the no-turn out decision and delivered it to the permittees without any prior warning. He said there was too much resource damage due to the drought to allow livestock grazing. The ranchers, Gerber and Lander County Sheriff Ron Unger said the grass is growing well, and that grazing will benefit all citizens.
"We've had a lot of early spring weather and the grass is going nuts right now," said Unger. "I look at it differently than the BLM. Right now is when the ranchers can benefit from the grazing, and the county can benefit from getting rid of that (wildfire) fuel."
The ranch families are inviting the public to tour the allotment and inspect the range condition for themselves on Saturday, May 17. The tour will begin at Pete and Lynn Tomera's ranch south of Battle Mountain. To get to their ranch, take the middle Battle Mountain exit off Interstate 80, which connects to Highway 305 to Austin. Turn south and take the first left beyond the freeway overpass, then follow the signs for about eight miles to the Tomera Ranch.
At the ranch, attendees will combine into as few vehicles as possible to tour the allotment. The tour will take several hours, so bring a sack lunch and plenty to drink.
According to the family, Nevada's congressional representatives are being invited to the range tour, along with state representatives and county commissioners from Lander, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt and White Pine counties.
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