Spring Creek Property

Description

40 Acres AND USFS Allotment
40 Acres is the Base Property and Spring Creek is the Allotment associated with the base property.   Per USFS “Through the sale of the base property, a new buyer may be waived a USFS permit by the current holder if the buyer meets necessary requirements to hold a permit. A permit or allotment is not guaranteed with the sale of a base property or herd.”
Administered by Malheur National Forest.
Term Grazing Permit: 10-year permit Signed in 2021.  
Permittee: 00132
Permit Number: 01907
3 Options: 340 Cows OR  1720 sheep  OR 200 Cows and 700 sheep.
Dates of Use: 6/10 – 10/25 
Total Acres for all permittees is Approximately 57,756 acres.  Seller has seen a variation of acres calculated but believes it to be between 57,000 and 58,000 total acres.  37,331 Acres are currently used in the rotation for grazing by the permittees.  Approximately 20,425 Acres are not grazed.  Fires burned in the Horseshoe Basin and North Big Cow units.   Those units are currently not used at this time and permitees allocations are used in the other units.  Horseshoe Basin could be used but livestock would need to all be removed by August 15th due to Bull Trout.  
Seller has used his full allocation on the allotment for the past 30 years.   Seller currently running Cows.   
All large allotment pastures have good water fed by natural springs.  
Allotment is shared with 1 other permittee.  Prior to grazing season both permittees discuss which pastures they are going to graze.  Sometimes they graze together and sometimes they don’t. Logistics including bulls are discussed at that time.   All fence maintenance is agreed to by both parties.  
Access: Best all weather access is using the 16 road.  The road can be accessed from either Logan Valley or the John Day Valley on a paved road.   Large semi-trucks can access these corrals in wet conditions.   The corrals at Crane prairie are centrally located to the grazing pastures.  An added benefit is a 50 acre meadow near the corrals for pairing up livestock in the spring.   Corrals are in need of repair.  Seller received verbal permission to go ahead and repair them.  No repairs have be completed at this time.  
Seller calves in April.  In 2023 Seller weaned calves at corral and left mother cows in the allotment, hauled them home and put them on grass pasture.  He weighed them after 45 days on pasture and the steers averaged 575 lbs. 
Pasture/Range/Forage insurance:  Seller has utilized this insurance in past years.  Some years it can be very beneficial.  Seller estimates with his portion of the allotment he is eligible for approximately 32,000 acres of insurable enrollment.  It is recommended that buyer independently confirms through their own research and insurer.  Seller’s insurer indicated he will run a multi decade analysis for qualified buyers.  
In 2022 Seller hired a professor from a University to conduct post-grazing utilization.  Seller was pleased with his services.  Cost was under $3,000.  He did not utilize him in 2023 but does feel like it’s a viable option.  
Seller told me that there was a 17 year lawsuit regarding all the Forest Service grazing permits on the North Fork Malheur River.  It resulted in the fences being constructed along the river.  A biological opinion was written focusing on the Bull-trout.  As a result no grazing is allowed on the river pastures. And a fence was established to create a new pasture in the allotment.  In four years the opinion will be revisited.  At that time a determination will be made on the future ability to graze livestock.  Regardless, seller has utilized his full permit allocation on the other acres.   

Fences:  
1.    16 Road fence was built in 2017 and is in good condition.
2.    Elk Flat Unit fences were built in approximately 2018 and are in good condition.  
3.    Elk to Summit had 2 miles rebuilt in 2020.  It’s a let down fence in good condition.  The other two miles of this fence is 30 years old and in fair condition.  
4.    Barrell Spring fencer has 3 miles that is in fair condition.  
5.    The lower units have 80% to 90% new fences due to the fire.  The South end fence will be built this year.  
6.    The permit says there is about 40 miles of fence maintenance but some of those fences have been burned out for 30 years, or are in units we do not use.  Seller maintains an average of 20 miles of fence each year.  
See Term grazing permit for Additional Details.   
Seller has a good working relationship with the current managers of this Forest Service Permit.   
**** NOT CURRENTLY FOR SALE BUT POSSIBLE NEGOTIABLE ADDITION: Seller has an additional 40 cow/calf permit 6/10 – 10/25 with this same allotment.  It comes with a Cow camp cabin in the Horseshoe Basin Pasture.