Re: RC: The Truth About Cattle Ranches

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/07/2000 12:38:17 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
guest@endurance.net writes:

<< The truth about cattle ranches is
 when the cattle prices drop and the 
 taxes get to high, the ranches get
 sold to developers.
 Cattle lose,
 wildlife lose,
 trail and endurance riders lose,
 enviromentalist lose. >>

I can relate to this, and we don't have to support ourselves with our cattle. 
 It would be a tough go if we did.  Cattle prices come nowhere near covering 
the costs of raising them the way we are doing it.  We keep cattle because it 
is a way of life and because the land would grow to brush and weeds if we 
didn't have a reason for working to make it grass-productive.  There are 
cattle ranches all around us that have been sold because the former owners 
didn't want to continue ranching.  In this part of CA, there are enough 
wealthy preservation societies to buy the land and turn it into state parks.  
The the land is locked up and people shut off from using it because a general 
plan has not been formulated and "there aren't enough funds" to hire rangers 
and establish trails and signs and outhouses. Some of this land has been 
lying unused by the public for over 15 years.  I guess it's better than 
subdivisions (that was tried, also), but parks have their drawbacks, too.  If 
cattle were more profitable, the land would still be in ranching.

Barbara