EMMETT, Idaho — Six months after the Paddock Fire destroyed thousands of acres through Gem County, we returned to talk to the same rancher, Robert Oxarango, to see how 2025 is shaping up.
"It's been a super spring," Oxarango said.
We first met Oxarango at his ranch north of Emmett late last summer, after the Paddock Fire swiftly burned almost 200, 000 acres in Gem County and parts of Washington and Payette Counties.
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Oxarango remembers that September meeting well. "As we talked about last fall, most of this fire burned so quick it didn't burn root mass," Oxarango said. "So that's why you see what we see this spring."
But the fire forced Oxarango and other ranchers to make some tough decisions. "We unfortunately sold some cows. We had to — it was that or find multiple places for cattle this summer. We choose to sell some. But the challenge, especially with the way Oregon burned the way it did, Idaho burned the way it did, there are so many people looking for that extra ground that you end up shipping them further and further away because competition for available grazing ground is high."
Now, ranchers are waiting to hear how the BLM will manage public land, which is also part of the 2025 grazing equation. "We haven't been in communication much, quite frankly, this winter, but they have their hands full trying to figure out two growing seasons to let people back on, but everyone out here, it affects people a little differently."
And just because everything is green right now doesn't mean these ranchers are out of the woods, so to speak. I asked if he thought there might be another Passock-like fire this summer. "\We don't know what it's going to look like for the rest of the spring and summer," Oxarango said. "But as you can see, that green is not going to stay green all summer. I'll turn yellow, and the potential for fires is going to be there in the summer and fall for sure."
