Open Range...... whats the rules in your area?

[PLR]

Recently we have had some confusion regarding the rules of open range in my area. It usedto be(and has always been) if you live in an open range area you can turn your cows out, just keep an eye on them and do the neighborly thing and go get them if they get in with someonelses cows. But now the county says if it is privately owned land it must be fenced to run cows on it :?: This was discovered after over 100 phone calls to local, state and county governments... :shock: the only problem is... this "law" is not in writing..... There are no open range laws in this state.....or if they exhist they are written on a post-it note stuck on the inside of some filing cabinet somewhere. These laws mean nothing if they cant show them on paper....so whats up? Can I turn my cows out or not(right now they are eating what little grass is in my lake pasture and it aint gonna last long)

I was just wondering...if any of you had a similar situation in your areas?

Thanks

Shelby

 

[dun]

The only open range I'm aware of is/was government land not privately owned. And even with the open range we had to have a grazing alotment from the feds to use it.

dun

 

[Frankie]

Recently we have had some confusion regarding the rules of open range in my area. It usedto be(and has always been) if you live in an open range area you can turn your cows out, just keep an eye on them and do the neighborly thing and go get them if they get in with someonelses cows. But now the county says if it is privately owned land it must be fenced to run cows on it :?: This was discovered after over 100 phone calls to local, state and county governments... :shock: the only problem is... this "law" is not in writing..... There are no open range laws in this state.....or if they exhist they are written on a post-it note stuck on the inside of some filing cabinet somewhere. These laws mean nothing if they cant show them on paper....so whats up? Can I turn my cows out or not(right now they are eating what little grass is in my lake pasture and it aint gonna last long)

I was just wondering...if any of you had a similar situation in your areas?

Thanks

Shelby

How about some background, Shelby? Did someone complain that your cattle were grazing on privately owned land? If that's the case, I'd think it would be their responsibility to fence it to keep your cattle out. Talk to the sheriff and see what's what.

There is some "open range" not far from us. It's unfenced land actually owned by several small oil companies. It's thick with trees, ticks, pump jacks and storage tanks. Some people just turn their cattle out to graze in it but no one cares. The oil companies maintain the roads (sort of) and come in and out to take care of their wells, othewise it's just wide open. I will say, though, that I wasn't pleased when some of those free ranging cattle came through the fences onto my land next door. One lady ran a JerseyX??? bull with her cows and I definitely didn't want him breeding my cows!

But you need to talk to someone with authority and the sherriff would be my suggestion, unless you want to pay for an attorney.

 

[TUCO]

dang, cant hardly beleeve that any of them greedy oil companys would let anybody run cattle for free on there land. :lol: but i reckon it would cost em to much $$ to put up a fence. so maybe thats the real reason why they got to charge so much for gas and diesel :?:

 

[PaminIdaho]

Around here, it's the property owners responsibilty to fence the cows OUT to keep them off their property.

Pam
SW Idaho

 

[Dave]

I was of the understanding that if you own land in a range area in Washington State that you are responcable for fencing livestock off your property. I know for a fact it is that way in Oregon. They just went through several court battles on that issue. The other difference is that if a cow gets on a road in a range area and gets hit the driver is responcable for the accident. In a non-range area the cow owner is responcable.
As for actual "open range" that you can just turn your cows out on because you feel like it, I don't believe that exists any more. All the land is owned by someone. Government rangeland will have someone who has the grazing rights to it and private land is private land. Range laws do not give you the right to graze cattle where ever you want they just tell who is responcable for fencing.

Dave

 

[milesvb]

Here a rancher is responsible for controlling his own livestock and could be liable for damages if they get out. There are even minimum fencing standards in the statutes.

 

[PLR]

Well recently an incident happend that could affect me/my cattle.

For the last 20 years or so one of our neighbors has run cattle on the "Open Range" in my area(all privately owned by "white men" within the bounds of the Colville Tribal Reservation. Long ago he got a copy of the range laws governing the running of cattle. It said you had to live in the range where you wanted to turn cows out and have lived there for more than 3 years. It also said that if a landowner did not want the cattle on their property they had to fence them out.(which doesnt apply if you are running cows on state and federal lands, only on private lands) When we moved into the area (about 9 years ago) we aquired a copy of these same laws(our copy has been lost to time). So for the last three years we have been turning our cows out on april 1st and bringing them home on Nov 1st. My cows dont go very far(a mile or less) from our property because the only real watersource is a stocktank down by our barn that is kept full. I share the area with 2 other neighbors. all in all it is about one square mile of good grass shared by 30-40 cows. Then one of my neighbors bulls got out of our range and into a pasture leased by another rancher. He showed up at my house demanding that someone come get the bull or they would be buying calves.(the bull was a bradford in with his pure angus cows). I told him to contact the owner about the bull and gave them their phone number. This happend at about 7:30 pm. The next day he shows up with a Range Rider from the tribe to seize the bull on private property( here the tribe has no jurisdiction on privately owned land or Fee Property). The bull was taken and the owner served with a ticket(the ticket was their first clue that something was wrong, He never called). the terms regarding the return of his bull were these....He had to pay $210 in fines and either butcher the bull on site or take him to a secure location and butcher him within 24 hours with an inspection of the hide after the butchering. Now we dont know what sparked all this but the next day the range rider tried to recruite a friend of the bull's owner to help him confinscate more cows off of our range(namely My Cows and the other 2 ranchers cows). After makeing over 100 calls to every human in the goverment that might know the laws we discovered that no one knows what the laws are and they are not written down. So the other rancher contacted every law enforcement unit all the way up to the FBI. and Each said that the Tribes Range Rider had no authority to take the bull off private property. Now we are trying to resolve this issue and still find the range laws....

Shelby

 

[eric]

Shelby, do you actually own any land here? can you possibly move your cows to your placetill all blows over?

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

I can't imagine anyone wanting to run the legal liability, loss of cattle risk by pasturing them in any area that is not fenced in. Not to mention the difficulty or problems if the wrong bull gets in with one's cattle; or they get lost; or if you have a H### of a time rounding them up. Not to mention exposing one's cattle roaming "the open range" picking up all sorts of bugs, potential diseases from mingling with other wildlife or other persons stock that might be sick or diseased.

In my biased, insane opinion, if one can't afford to run their cattle in a fenced area (preferably yours or leased pasture) , then they can't afford to have cattle in the first place... I'm sure there are a few large ranchers who "lease" tens of thousands of acres from the Govt and once a year try to round up a few thousand cattle and calves for working them or hauling to sales who would take serious exception to my views.

So much for my 2 cents worth!

 

[Dave]

Shelby,

If this is part of the Colville Reservation and governed by them it opens a whole different can of worms. Tribes are considered a seperate nation and write (or rewrite) their own rules. Things can stay the same for ever or change over night depending on the whim of the tribe. I would talk to the tribal counsel to see what their position is on this.

Dave

 

[PissedOffGranny]

Recently we have had some confusion regarding the rules of open range in my area. It usedto be(and has always been) if you live in an open range area you can turn your cows out, just keep an eye on them and do the neighborly thing and go get them if they get in with someonelses cows. But now the county says if it is privately owned land it must be fenced to run cows on it :?: This was discovered after over 100 phone calls to local, state and county governments... :shock: the only problem is... this "law" is not in writing..... There are no open range laws in this state.....or if they exhist they are written on a post-it note stuck on the inside of some filing cabinet somewhere. These laws mean nothing if they cant show them on paper....so whats up? Can I turn my cows out or not(right now they are eating what little grass is in my lake pasture and it aint gonna last long)

I was just wondering...if any of you had a similar situation in your areas?

Thanks

Shelby

My neighbors pulled down my fence so they can run their animals on my property. I have saw their animals on the satellites, during the pandemic when I bought into Piano fan County.
I have repeatedly said, I don't want the neighbor's animals on my land, put up no trespassing signs and , these folks tear down my fences and run their animals when I am NOT home.
I am fixing to hot wire or use some creative barriers, if they don't stop soon. . The county said it's a civil matter and I'd have to sue them to make it stop!

 

[SBMF 2015]

My neighbors pulled down my fence so they can run their animals on my property. I have saw their animals on the satellites, during the pandemic when I bought into Piano fan County.
I have repeatedly said, I don't want the neighbor's animals on my land, put up no trespassing signs and , these folks tear down my fences and run their animals when I am NOT home.
I am fixing to hot wire or use some creative barriers, if they don't stop soon. . The county said it's a civil matter and I'd have to sue them to make it stop!

Sounds like a lot of beef going in your freezer soon.

 

[greybeard]

My neighbors pulled down my fence so they can run their animals on my property. I have saw their animals on the satellites, during the pandemic when I bought into Piano fan County.
I have repeatedly said, I don't want the neighbor's animals on my land, put up no trespassing signs and , these folks tear down my fences and run their animals when I am NOT home.
I am fixing to hot wire or use some creative barriers, if they don't stop soon. . The county said it's a civil matter and I'd have to sue them to make it stop!

What state and county do you live in? Piano fan county???

When I was young, my home county (San Jacinto County, Texas) was open range. If you didn't want cattle or hogs running on your property, you were obliged (by state law, since Texas was and still is an open range state) to fence other people's livestock off your property. Yes, open range, but even in an open range state, you still had the right to fence other people and their animals OUT.

When we first (around 1964) fenced of 124 acres that had always been open, we had a lot of trouble with people cutting our fences. Turned out, that most of the fence cutters were campers trying to access the river that formed our Easternmost property line.

(The State of Texas constitution allows for individual counties to enact a fence rule, removing itself from 'open range' and most have nowadays)

 

[greybeard]

PoG, call the county Sheriff Dept and have them come pick up the estray animals that are on your property.

 

[Dave]

Again exactly what area are you in. The rules vary widely based on state or county, And even area within the county. Where I live it is open range. If you don't want someone's cows on your property you have to build a fence to keep them out. That has most certainly been decided in court. Run into a cow on the road. You get to buy the cow and fix your own damages including medical expenses.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Milesvb I like your statement.
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

Heres a question. When we first moved here the fences were a joke of hanging barb wire held together with baling twine. The previous owner had leased the place year by year for his neighbors cattle. Almost every night black cattle were loose on the state highway. People would beep there horns and we would go out for another midnight rodeo. We re-fenced the place. My question is - Who is responsibe for a car wreck caused by cattle in Oregon, the leasor that didn't maintain their fences or the leasee?

 

[greybeard]

Miles

Milesvb I like your statement.
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

Heres a question. When we first moved here the fences were a joke of hanging barb wire held together with baling twine. The previous owner had leased the place year by year for his neighbors cattle. Almost every night black cattle were loose on the state highway. People would beep there horns and we would go out for another midnight rodeo. We re-fenced the place. My question is - Who is responsibe for a car wreck caused by cattle in Oregon, the leasor or the leasee?

Is that area open range?
It can and does make a huge legal difference and of course, how the lease is worded is very important.. Who, has signed their names on the lease agreeing to keep the fences up?

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

No open range. The whole countryside is fenced for cattle. There never was any lease agreement, just a verbal agreement. If someone slammed into a black cow on the road and was injured or killed who would have been the hook?

As much as we like our neighbors they can't keep cattle over here anymore because now I have enough animal units. Jerseys and horses.

Actually, we were told by another neighbor before we moved here three black cows were killed on that road. No one seems to want to talk about it.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Again exactly what area are you in. The rules vary widely based on state or county, And even area within the county. Where I live it is open range. If you don't want someone's cows on your property you have to build a fence to keep them out. That has most certainly been decided in court. Run into a cow on the road. You get to buy the cow and fix your own damages including medical expenses.

More than one out of state city slicker has tried to sue a rancher when they have totaled their Camero and ended up paying the rancher for a whole lot of steak. For that matter, insurance companies in the east have done the same thing when they have tried to come after the rancher. It's kinda comical if you are a spectator and you know the rules. I don't ever wish anyone to have to be on either side of a cow/vehicle collision though.

In reply to what @Dave is saying, there are 'cow police' and brand inspectors that can potentially get involved with these issues. Sherrif should know the ins and outs of local rules.