N.M. ranchers win long-running water case

Judge orders Forest Service, family to find alternative source

ALBUQUERQUE — A U.S. court has sided with a New Mexico ranching family in a decadeslong battle over access to water on national forest land, providing more certainty that state law allows for the protection of water rights dating back more than a century.

The case of the Goss family has been closely watched by thousands of ranchers who hold grazing permits across the West.

Attorneys and others say the outcome could have ripple effects on ranchers and rural communities that have often complained about federal land managers trampling property rights.

The Goss family claimed the federal government violated its constitutional rights by not providing just compensation after condemning property — in this case water rights that had been established before Lincoln National Forest was created.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Chief Judge Susan Braden agreed. On Friday, she ordered the family and the U.S. Forest Service to determine whether alternative water sources are available that can allow the family — operating as the Sacramento Grazing Association Inc. — to operate a viable cattle business. Braden must still determine how much compensation the family is owed.

Regional officials with the U.S. Forest Service declined to comment pending a final judgment.

Michael Van Zandt, a California attorney who represents the family, said Tuesday the family has been working for the past few years with the U.S. Forest Service to find alternative sources of water but those efforts have not always been successful.

The grazing operation was forced to decrease its herd as forest officials fenced off more areas over the years due to habitat concerns and endangered species.

“It’s been a huge financial burden to the Gosses,” Van Zandt said, noting that his clients were ecstatic about the ruling.

Ranchers around New Mexico said they were excited but cautious given their somewhat tumultuous history with federal land managers. Hispanic ranchers in the north have often complained that officials have discriminated against them despite policies that recognize their cultural and traditional ties to the land. Some families have worked the land since the Spanish colonized what is now New Mexico hundreds of years ago.

Braden’s ruling made reference to several dozen ranchers who unsuccessfully attempted to find common ground with environmental groups and officials from Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for over a decade.

The ruling noted that in January 2016, the ranchers decided to take up arms to protest federal policy and regulations that prioritize water habitat for migrating birds by limiting the number of cattle that historically grazed and used water in the area.