The Forest Service rescued the lookout by helicopter from Mogollon Baldy, the second highest peak in the wilderness, when the flames were within a mile of the summit. Cattle starved on the open ranges. Environmentalists cursed ranchers and ranchers cursed environmentalists. The damage from cattle was evident that summer. He taught me how cattle harm rivers.
Cattle tend to congregate near water.
During hot, dry months, the soil is exposed to erosion by the wind and baking by the sun. Soil temperatures in the arid southwest get too high for new seeds to germinate. The dry soil soaks up moisture from the river, and the river grows warm and runs low. The concentration of salts, already high in desert rivers, grows even higher, and fields irrigated with the water are left with a hard, salty surface crust. We sat in the Hillsboro bar and talked with a local rancher about his losses.