Corps says cattle ‘trespassing’ must end along Snake River

Ranchers who graze cattle along the Snake River will meet with representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Saturday.

Both sides will discuss the issue of cattle continuing to graze along the river. The meeting will be at Riley’s River Ranch, according to Walter Riley.

“It affects everybody up and down the river on both sides,” he said.

The Corps contends they own a 100-foot to 300-foot buffer along the river. Riley said they don’t own it, but they are the land’s caretakers, hired by the federal government.

Gina Baltrusch, Corps public affairs specialist, said that Corps policy does not permit cattle grazing, ranging, unauthorized structures or unauthorized use on district-managed lands without written authorization. She said Corps’ real estate records show no documentation of any agreements, even though ranchers say they have been wintering their cattle along the river for more than 40 years.

Baltrusch said there are three cattle trespass points on the lower Snake River that the Corps has identified. One is located near Central Ferry, and the two others are upstream at Lower Granite quarry and near Bishop quarry.

Riley said a neighbor in Garfield County, across the river from Central Ferry, is having the same issues.

Baltrusch said they have had “considerable cattle encroachments on our property.” She said that more trespassing was documented about three weeks ago.

“We’ve been trying to get this resolved for well over a year,” she said.

She said Corps officials have found feeding stations and cattle bones on Corps’ land between private property lines and the shoreline.

Baltrusch said the Corps owns 32,000 acres of land she called “habitat” that the Corps owned after dams on the Snake River were built in the 1960s.

She said the Corps wanted to resolve any conflicts with ranchers and have called, sent emails and letters and also have personally visited ranches.

“During our resolution efforts with the cattle owners, the Walla Walla District acknowledged the hardship of moving cattle to an alternate winter location during mid-season and offered to work with cattle owners to reduce the impact to their current operations, conditional upon the owners’ written commitment to remove the cattle and personal property encroachment by the end of April and to desist from future such encroachments,” Baltrusch explained in an email to the Gazette Monday.

“The district did not receive the requested response to these offers of accommodation for the winter season.”

In the same email, Baltrusch said that the Corps’ missions do not include cattle ranging as a primary purpose.

“Our water-land management missions place priority on flood risk reduction, navigation, hydropower, water resources continuing authority programs, regulatory program, habitat development and management for fish and wildlife benefit and recreation,” she wrote.

Baltrusch also wrote that while the district admits to a lack of enforcement in the past because of unavailable funding, the Corps inaction won’t provide a basis for future enforcement or resolution.

“It’s not an excuse for lack of past enforcement, but a legitimate management decision when faced with diminished resources - public safety is the Corps’ top priority,” she wrote.

“It’s been the district’s goal to reach a cooperative resolution to these encroachments with the cattle owners,” she continued. “It’s unfortunate that our efforts have been rejected.”