Whodunnit: Was it the Fat-Assed Crowd or the Gunner???

[JoseCuervo]

Gosh, pulling up fence posts on MY PUBLIC LANDS... Yeppers, it was probably the Fat-Assed crowd.... I guess the good news is that they are gone.... Maybe I can support the Fat-Assed crowd...

Stolen posts baffle area ranchers

Area ranchers and federal grassland officials are puzzled and perturbed over the theft of fence posts near an off-road recreation area south of Farmingdale on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

Rancher Richard Rausch of Hermosa said another batch of fence posts disappeared over the wet Labor Day weekend from a pasture he shares with other grazing leaseholders on the federal grassland. Over the summer, 40 to 50 fence posts were pulled up and taken away near Railroad Buttes, Rausch said.

A 14-foot-long gate post was among the latest posts to disappear, according to Mike Erk, rangeland management specialist for the U.S. Forest Service.

Neither Erk nor Rausch can figure out why someone would steal the posts.

"It's odd," Erk said. "I've been here 18 years, and it's the first theft I've had on an existing fence."

Rausch said he initially believed four-wheelers who had gotten stuck had pulled the posts out to help free their machines from the muck. But now, he isn't sure. "You can't find the posts. They're just gone," he said.

Erk said getting the big gate post out of the ground would have required "significant effort."

Rausch agreed, saying, "There's a lot easier things to steal than wood posts."

Rausch estimated that replacing the posts would cost about $1,000 in equipment and materials, plus time he could be spending elsewhere on his ranch.

Last Wednesday, Rausch fixed the gate so it could be used and put steel posts in the ground to hold the fence up, to get through this year's grazing season.

So far, no cattle have gotten out through the damaged fence, Rausch said.

The penalty for misdemeanor theft of federal property ranges from a $500 fine to a $5,000 fine and six months in jail, according to Travis Lunders, Forest Service law enforcement officer.

Meanwhile, Erk said the Forest Service has posted signs discouraging off-roaders from riding in the area when it is wet. He said doing so isn't illegal unless it destroys a natural resource.

Erk said the damage over the Labor Day weekend was confined to some low-lying areas.

Rausch said it probably is a minority of the people using the area who damage it and steal the posts. "It's a sad thing they've got to abuse their privilege."