This is not the question you should be asking. The Teanaway Community Forest advisory committee has tasked the TCF grazing subcommittee to figure out how to effectively continue grazing (along with forestry) in the Teanaway "while protecting key watershed functions and aquatic habitats." Open range cattle grazing will remain. The question is how can cattle be managed effectively so the TCF's other goals are also met. The riparian area along the North Fork of the Teanaway river has been severely damaged by cows trampling along the banks in order to get around fenced-in private property. As a landowner in this area, I witness such activity each year and, along with my neighbors, have tried to work out an amicable solution with grazing lease holders. Unfortunately, they have been unreceptive to say the least. I fully respect having open range cattle grazing in the Teanaway and want it to continue. I also believe cattle lease holders can do a much better job to keep the cows out of the river and abide by the terms of their lease to meet the other equally important goals of the TCF. I truly love the Teanaway and want it to continue to be the treasure that it is. That is why we should stop making this into a discussion of whether cattle grazing should continue or not as it only seeks to divide us rather than bring about a viable solution.
mf - 8 years ago
Grazing in the Teanaway should continue. I absolutely agree with Rebecca Montgomery and Don Stoneburg. I would much rather run across a steer than a Westside mountain biker.
Rebecca Montgomery - 8 years ago
This area is Open Range. Grazing cattle are part of the heart and soul of the Teanaway - as a rural county we should preserve our way of life - the cattle are not hurting the land nor the water. Is our new landscape going to be "fences"?
DON STONEBURG - 8 years ago
I have spent all of my 70+ years in upper Kittitas county and remember when the Teanaway valley was open for the people to use. It seems that the longer I live the more I see changes that , in my opinion, are not so good. Not so good for the land or the people. Leave the cattlemen and their cows alone, both were here long before those that seek to curtail a tradition that has endured for decades, with little or no apparent harm. I have quit camping on the upper teanaway years ago when the Forest Service closed my favorite camp spot to "conserve riparian habitat". I remember when the "Service" in Forest Service meant that they took care of the forest, campgrounds, trails, and roads. Now it seems that law enforcement and closing areas to public use is paramount. There are too many do-gooders who don't have any history here trying to decide what is best for us all. I say, if you don't like things the way they are here, either figure out why you came, or go back to wherever it was that you left.
local - 8 years ago
The Teanaway has been a diverse and vibrant watershed long before it was destined to be " saved". Grazing, selective logging, and farming has made it the healthy popular playground of today. I support grazing the Teanaway as it has been. We can all agree that lack of logging and reduction of grazing has helped create diseased and dying forests that contain tremendous fuel loads waiting for a spark. Difficult for fish to flourish in an environment of black sticks and sterilized ground.
phone-lady - 8 years ago
I want farming to remain in the Upper County.
HV - 8 years ago
Cattle or sheep grazing in our low to mid-elevation forests on the east slopes of the Cascades, as well as in other forests to the east, can be and usually is beneficial for helping to control and reduce the spread of forest fires by reducing the amount of burnable materials.
Of course there have to be some controls to protect streams and other sensitive areas. This can be accomplished through herding, fencing and placement of salt as well as seasonal movement of the grazing animals.
This is not the question you should be asking. The Teanaway Community Forest advisory committee has tasked the TCF grazing subcommittee to figure out how to effectively continue grazing (along with forestry) in the Teanaway "while protecting key watershed functions and aquatic habitats." Open range cattle grazing will remain. The question is how can cattle be managed effectively so the TCF's other goals are also met. The riparian area along the North Fork of the Teanaway river has been severely damaged by cows trampling along the banks in order to get around fenced-in private property. As a landowner in this area, I witness such activity each year and, along with my neighbors, have tried to work out an amicable solution with grazing lease holders. Unfortunately, they have been unreceptive to say the least. I fully respect having open range cattle grazing in the Teanaway and want it to continue. I also believe cattle lease holders can do a much better job to keep the cows out of the river and abide by the terms of their lease to meet the other equally important goals of the TCF. I truly love the Teanaway and want it to continue to be the treasure that it is. That is why we should stop making this into a discussion of whether cattle grazing should continue or not as it only seeks to divide us rather than bring about a viable solution.
Grazing in the Teanaway should continue. I absolutely agree with Rebecca Montgomery and Don Stoneburg. I would much rather run across a steer than a Westside mountain biker.
This area is Open Range. Grazing cattle are part of the heart and soul of the Teanaway - as a rural county we should preserve our way of life - the cattle are not hurting the land nor the water. Is our new landscape going to be "fences"?
I have spent all of my 70+ years in upper Kittitas county and remember when the Teanaway valley was open for the people to use. It seems that the longer I live the more I see changes that , in my opinion, are not so good. Not so good for the land or the people. Leave the cattlemen and their cows alone, both were here long before those that seek to curtail a tradition that has endured for decades, with little or no apparent harm. I have quit camping on the upper teanaway years ago when the Forest Service closed my favorite camp spot to "conserve riparian habitat". I remember when the "Service" in Forest Service meant that they took care of the forest, campgrounds, trails, and roads. Now it seems that law enforcement and closing areas to public use is paramount. There are too many do-gooders who don't have any history here trying to decide what is best for us all. I say, if you don't like things the way they are here, either figure out why you came, or go back to wherever it was that you left.
The Teanaway has been a diverse and vibrant watershed long before it was destined to be " saved". Grazing, selective logging, and farming has made it the healthy popular playground of today. I support grazing the Teanaway as it has been. We can all agree that lack of logging and reduction of grazing has helped create diseased and dying forests that contain tremendous fuel loads waiting for a spark. Difficult for fish to flourish in an environment of black sticks and sterilized ground.
I want farming to remain in the Upper County.
Cattle or sheep grazing in our low to mid-elevation forests on the east slopes of the Cascades, as well as in other forests to the east, can be and usually is beneficial for helping to control and reduce the spread of forest fires by reducing the amount of burnable materials.
Of course there have to be some controls to protect streams and other sensitive areas. This can be accomplished through herding, fencing and placement of salt as well as seasonal movement of the grazing animals.
Grazing reduces fuel for forest fires
What cattle? And how will this affect wildlife?