Nearly 1,300 Cattle Unaccounted For After Utah Wildfires
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah wildfires burned more than land, trees and brush.
21 August 2007
2 minute read
"Typically, government response to agriculture doesn't have the same immediacy of, say, when people have lost their homes in a natural disaster,"
Larry Lewis, spokesman at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
Nearly 300 cattle and calves were killed, 90 were injured and about 1,300 are missing, according to a federal survey of ranchers.
From the northeastern corner to the southwest, Utah had a series of significant wildfires in June and July. Five people died, including a California couple riding a motorcycle when smoke swept Interstate 15 on July 7.
At more than 560 square miles, the Milford Flat fire in Beaver and Millard counties was the largest in Utah history.
Clark Bradshaw of Beaver lost 38 head in that fire. He hopes recent rain will give him a few more weeks to graze his cattle on public land, although he'll have to bring home the herd long before the traditional October deadline.
"I'll have to get a loan and start buying hay," Bradshaw said.
Indeed, the federal survey found ranchers need tons of hay to feed nearly 9,700 displaced animals.
The U.S. Agriculture Department still is deciding whether to declare a disaster in Utah, which would qualify ranchers and farmers for low-interest loans. Gov. Jon Huntsman's letter seeking help was dated July 27.
"Typically, government response to agriculture doesn't have the same immediacy of, say, when people have lost their homes in a natural disaster," said Larry Lewis, spokesman at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
