CHEVELON BUTTE - From the top of Chevelon Butte, you can look off in all directions and see cattle country. Titles to the big country are in federal, state and private hands, but cattlemen take a more far-reaching view.

As he stood on the edge of the butte looking out over the dry range, rancher Jack Carlisle said, "It's only given to us for a short time. We're stewards of the land but it belongs to God. We'll take care of it - we just need a little rain."
Rain was on everybody's mind. Arizona ranchers have survived droughts, blizzards, cattle rustlers and economic downturns since the 1870s. They banded together in 1903 to form the Arizona Cattle Growers'Association. On Oct. 16 ACGA members from three northern Arizona counties met to discuss current problems and share some possible solutions.
They met on the O'Haco Ranch south of Winslow, on the grassy top of Chevelon Butte. To the south lies the long blue swath of the Mogollon Rim. To the north is the ranch once owned by Gene Autry, and far beyond that rise the mesas of the Navajo Nation. The San Francisco Peaks jut from the northwestern horizon. To the east the wind turbines of the Elkins Ranch glisten in the sun.
Jim O'Haco, Navajo County ACGA board member, welcomed the group. He said, "My grandfather came to this country in 1897 as a sheepherder when he was 16 years old. He saved his money and started his own band of sheep early in the 1900s. By 1945, he had several ranches, and 25,000-30,000 head of sheep. We've been here since about 1918."
The Basque immigrant had one boy and three girls. His son, Mike, went to war in 1942. O'Haco said, "When my father returned from World War II, he started cross-fencing the land (creating pastures), drilling wells and building dirt tanks. He switched from sheep to cattle in 1948-1950 and continued to upgrade the herd."
O'Haco said his father told him, "My father left it better for me, I left it better for you, and I know you'll leave it better for your kids."
Times have changed, but that ethic remains. Since 1997, the O'Haco range has undergone two major improvements with the help of the Arizona State Land Department, USDA Forest Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
The first major project was developing a new water system. In 2008 the outfit laid 42 miles of pipeline to 38 drinkers scattered across the ranch. They drilled a well that pumps 45 gallons a minute and put in storage tanks.
O'Haco said, "With this drought, there's no water south of here (along the Mogollon Rim), so we'll have a lot of wildlife coming in to water."
The second continuing project is a Brush Management Program to improve the grazing capacity, the watershed and wildlife habitat. So far, the partners have removed 8,000 acres of brush, and they are planning to remove up to 12,000 acres.
"We couldn't have done it without partners," O'Haco said.
For his range improvement projects, he was the recipient of the 2009 Wildlife Habitat Stewardship Award from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner Robbie Woodhouse thanked the ACGA for working with his department. He said, "I believe we have a commission sensitive to your problems. We need to sit at the table and exchange ideas. We value the work you have done in habitat access."
Steve Brophy, president of the ACGA, introduced Maria Baier, State Land commissioner, who told the ranchers, "We respect the sacrifices you've made over the years ... I hope to be a commissioner who helps you every way I can."
The ACGA has been working with a large group of stakeholders on a State Land Reform package to present to the Legislature. It includes a system for issuing long term leases of state land, as well as better methods for compensating ranchers for their improvements on state lands when they are reclassified.
The days when a rancher stood alone are gone. Ranchers today know that the key to success is cooperation, legislation, and, when necessary, litigation.
Arizona Sen. Sylvia Allen was a special guest. She spoke of her ancestors who came to northern Arizona in the 1870s.
"I appreciate what they did so we can have the standard of living we have today," she said. "We need to get back to restoring those principles of the pioneers. We have to get rid of the people that protect fish but do not protect farmers."
Her message was not optimistic. "We're in a lot of trouble because we've overspent," she said. "We have a $3 billion deficit in Arizona."
Allen said there are only five ways for the state to get out of debt: raise taxes, cut government spending, borrow money, reform some of the programs, promote economic development or declare bankruptcy.
"We can't move forward without resolving this crisis," she said.
"Instead of working together, many people worked to bring us down. I hope and pray when we go back down there we can work together. It's impossible when we encourage people to depend on government ... We need to get America back."
Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner Jack Husted agreed with some of Allen's remarks.
"Nationwide, we've got a problem with people who don't want us on the land ... There are folks in Washington who don't want any people who use resources. We need to band together to deal with the problem - hunters, grazers and timber people," he said.
Husted said he believes a resource users group is needed.
"We've got to be politically active," he said. "We've got a bunch of people who don't understand what we do, people with a lot of money. We've got to band together and be proud of what we produce. We can no longer be asleep at the wheel."
Rep. Jack Brown, a 33-year veteran of the state Legislature and an Apache County cattleman, was there to offer some encouragement. "It'll get better, but we've got to work at it. My goal is to make sure our rural counties don't get kicked around too much."
He said following the death of Jake Flake there are only two cattlemen in the state Legislature, but he wishes there were more.
Brown's optimism was dimmed somewhat by Zeke Austin, special investigation supervisor for the Arizona Department of Agriculture. He reported that cattle thefts are on the increase statewide.
He said, "We've seen more cattle thefts in 2008 and 2009 than we have in the past six years."
He said it's becoming increasingly difficult to catch cattle thieves because they know there are so few livestock officers out there.
Austin said, "This is all well and good that we can sit around and complain, but people have to get on the phone and write and e-mail their legislators."
The days when a rancher could stand and fight alone are gone. Ranchers today know that the key to success is cooperation, legislation, and, if necessary, litigation.
One thing was clear - Arizona cattlemen are faced with some heavy problems. But then, they always have been. As long as they can stand together on top of Chevelon Butte or some other weathered landmark, they will find ways to stay in business, even if becoming politically active goes against the grain.
In a letter to members signed by President Steve Brophy and board members Jim O'Haco, Lance Knight and Duane Coleman, they stated: "ACGA has withstood economic storms and political chaos for the past 105 years. We appreciate our existing membership and their dedication, their knowledge and funding has allowed us to do what needed to be done so far, but what we do affects everyone in the cattle business, and none of us can do it alone."
Ranchers and agency people sat down together at picnic tables to talk, tell stories and joke about whose beef they might be eating. The fare was pit barbecued beef 'n beans cooked up by a quartet of cowboy cooks - Leo Leonard, Dan Walters, Leon King and Neil Harrah. Dessert was a dutch oven concoction known as "Dump Cake." It would have been a perfect day in Arizona - if it just would have rained.

*Reach the reporter at jobaeza@cableone.net

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