Year in reflection: Ranchers face long recovery after wildfires

The latest: We asked Matt McElligott, president of the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, how things are looking in the rangelands east of the Cascades.

• This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What impact did ranchers see from these fires?

• "Loss of rangeland was the biggest one, but there was infrastructure too, like fencing, and some people lost cattle."
• "When you lose your rangeland, that's your pasture so you have to find new pasture somewhere else, or you have to switch to hay, or you have to depopulate (sell off cattle)."

Are there lingering impacts from these fires?

• "It takes a lot of time to recover. These folks are going to be hurting for years."
• "If the range is burnt, we won't know how the grass and forbs will come back until spring. Some of them won't be able to graze for a year at minimum."

What is being done, or needs to be done, to help these ranchers?

• "There is an effort by the Oregon Cattlemen's Association to help offset some of the economic costs — rebuilding fences, buying hay and connecting people to donated hay."
• "The federal government has stepped in with emergency disaster programs to help offset those costs, but there's hundreds and hundreds of miles of fences that need to be rebuilt."

What are some of the bigger impacts of these losses?

• "A lot of people look at rangelands and just see grass. These are food-producing acres, but people don't think about it that way."
• "If people have to destock, they don't need employees, they don't need tractors, they don't need supplies. There is a ripple effect on the economy."