Post

Cattle impacted by wildfires

A Montana resident helping with wildfire relief says between 7500 and 9000 cattle in eastern Montana have been displaced. There have been no major reports of cattle deaths yet.

Garfield County public information officer Anne Miller says many ranchers won’t be able to use grazing pastures right away, but they have some relief options.

“U.S. Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke, had announced that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was going to open our Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR) for emergency grazing relief,” she says. “They made allotments immediately available for the ranchers who lost grazing land.”

She tells Brownfield volunteers are working together to provide ranchers with any relief items they might need.

“(Ranchers) tend to need everything from fencing, to feed, to machinery oils like hydraulic oil, chainsaws, hay, and then things like gasoline,” she says.

Volunteers created a donation drop-off for families affected by wildfires in Garfield County and surrounding areas. Fencing, machinery oils, water, food, hay, gloves and more are available.

Wildfires in nine western states have burned nearly 1.5 million acres.

For more information visit  https://www.facebook.com/garfieldcountydes or http://www.garfieldco.us/disaster-emergency-services-des.html.

Audio: Anne Miller, Public Information Officer 

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!