Keep livestock out of riparian area on Río Fernando

In Cody Hooks’ article about the Río Fernando (”Surprising alliance of groups tackle problems on Río Fernando,” April 25), the grazing permittee, Herman Manzanares of Abiquiú, admitted that he can’t “keep the cows reliably out of the river.” That fact raises serious questions about grazing management on the upper Río Fernando.

If Manzanares really wants to keep the cows out of the river, why do Forest Service managers continue to schedule grazing in La Jara Canyon and the “riparian pasture”? Almost all of the forage in these two areas is located within 100 feet of the stream. Obviously, grazing in this situation greatly increases E. coli contamination of the water, compared to the rangeland grazing available elsewhere on the allotment.

The problem is growing. The 2019 annual operating instruction for this allotment shows that this year, for the first time, the cattle are scheduled to be placed inside a large existing fence which was built to protect approximately a quarter-mile of the river from both cattle and elk. That tall fence is still in place and deer and elk are still being excluded from this new livestock pasture. The use of the elk and cattle exclosure for livestock grazing shows the Forest Service preference for this permittee over water quality and wildlife.

Ironically, the most worrisome part of Hooks’ story for me was where Rachel Conn of Amigos Bravos claimed that the grassy fields where cattle graze are “little reservoirs, sponges that soak up the runoff.” The big problem, according to Conn, is the “deep” channel where the river sits “about five feet below the rest of the surrounding field.” Apparently, she thinks the river’s problem is the channel, not livestock impacts.

But the truth is, healthy stream banks and surface aquifers are more than just grassy fields. The river needs trees, shrubs and tall grasses with root systems that reach down a lot deeper than five feet, creating much bigger “sponges” than short grasses alone. The real cause of the dried-out “fields” Conn talked about is the routine sacrifice by the Forest Service of the vegetative cover, including trees and shrubs, to maximize grazing acres and short-term profits for the permittee.

The various agencies in the Río Fernando Revitalization Collaborative have been working to get funding for restoration projects on the headwaters. But those efforts will be an exercise in futility until the growing losses from intensive grazing on this river are recognized by Amigos Bravos and the public.

You can drive up Taos Canyon and see the Río Fernando riparian pasture for yourself. It is located about 15 miles east of Taos on Highway 64, on the south side of the road. There is a parking area and a sign commemorating the construction of the wildlife-friendly Río Fernando protection fence, back in 1988. This stretch of the river was later converted into a riparian pasture by the Carson Forest, despite strong opposition by the New Mexico Fish and Game Department.

If you walk around the riparian pasture today, you will see that many areas are overgrazed and trampled to bare dirt. The stream banks have been stripped of trees and shrubs by decades of grazing down to “4-inch stubble,” according to the Forest Service guideline.

The problem is, the $120,000 fence mentioned in Hooks’ story isn’t actually being built by Amigos Bravos to prevent cattle from grazing on these stream banks. That would be too simple. In fact, the Forest Service and Amigos Bravos are planning for the rebuilt fence to continue to be used to keep the cattle on the river during yearly scheduled grazing of the riparian pasture. This is business as usual, not change for the better.

Truly, the Río Fernando and the public lands belong to all of us who live here, not just to one livestock owner or even the federal government. After over 15 years of Forest Service denials and inaction, it is time for the county commissioners to consider and pass an ordinance to protect and restore the upper Río Fernando permanently. And by the way, that is not a hopeless dream—it is our legal right.

The first page of every federal grazing contract says that permittees must comply with state and local “laws relating to livestock control and to protection of air, water ... fish and wildlife, and other environmental values.” I believe the grazing contract means exactly what it says. Our elected representatives should read it and use every legal means to protect and restore the Río Fernando.