During the Panhandle Fire in Texas last year, a lot of Wyomingites stepped up to help deliver hay and other necessities to stricken ranches.
Texas took note of all that help, and now is returning the favor in the wake of the Elk Fire, Pack Trail Fire, and other devastating wildfires that have burned in excess of 810,000 acres in the Cowboy State so far this season.
About 20 veterinary first-aid kits have been dropped off at the Parkman Bar & Grill for distribution to Bighorn Mountain ranchers, members of the Rancher Navy — Texas Fire Relief — Farm and Ranch Facebook group told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. That is just the beginning of what the group has planned to help ranchers in Wyoming.
And some members of the group have been helping all along with donated hay to help replace the huge swaths of grasslands that burned up.
“Long story short, the reason we showed up in Wyoming was because you all stepped up to help us, and it’s also what we do as an organization,” said Morgan Broome, a spokesperson for the group. “Amy Houston, who is one of our directors, has friends in the (Elk Fire) area, and she’s been keeping an eye on the fires.
“There was also a gentleman from Wyoming who had trucked hay all the way to Texas, quite a bit of hay actually, to assist our Panhandle fire.”
A post from that person highlighting Wyoming’s fire drew an immediate response from Garret Duvall with the Texas Rancher Navy group, Broome said.
“So, he loaded up a bunch of our supplies and headed up there to Wyoming to see what is needed and to start getting resources coordinated up there,” Broome said, “While we are Texas-based, if we see a community in need, as far as farming and ranching, anywhere within the United States, and we have the ability to help, we will.”
Group Started During Carbon Complex Fire
The 2022 Carbon Complex fire — multiple fires that together burned almost 55,000 acres in Texas — is what brought the Texas Rancher Navy group to life.
“That fire was unusual in that it burned through town, so it took out a lot of people’s homes and things like that,” Broome said. “And that was one of the biggest hay producing counties in Texas, so it impacted statewide, and they had a lot of livestock there that passed away.”
Lost pastures further compounded the misery and led to a lot of ad hoc efforts by ranchers trying to help.
“It was kind of mass chaos,” Broome said. “Nobody knew where anybody needed to go or what needed to happen. So, a group of us on Facebook who were kind of dispatching on our own got together on a FaceTime call and said, ‘Hey, let’s work together. Let’s make a team and get this organized.’”
From that was born the Texas Rancher Navy, after the Cajun Navy, a nonprofit group of private boat owners that volunteered search and rescue efforts during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“We’ve created drop locations and we have Hotshots is what we call them, who show up at drop locations to take donations on smaller vehicles to the farms and ranches,” Broome said.
The Texas Rancher Navy’s Hotshots use smaller vehicles because often ranches have lost or cannot afford large equipment to offload big tractor trailers.
“This has kind of turned into a movement without really anticipating what it would become,” Broome said. “We’ve responded to fires all over Texas, as well as hurricanes, and fires in other places.”
The Texas Fire Relief effort has helped Wyoming ranchers impacted by a number of huge and devastating wildfires this season. (Courtesy Matthew Drinkwalter via Facebook) 
Along with lots of hay, the relief effort also includes other supplies for ranchers impacted by Wyoming's wildfires. (Courtesy Garrett Duvall) 
Along with lots of hay, the relief effort also includes other supplies for ranchers impacted by Wyoming's wildfires. (Courtesy Garrett Duvall) 
The Texas Fire Relief effort has helped Wyoming ranchers impacted by a number of huge and devastating wildfires this season. (Courtesy Garret Duvall via Facebook) 
Garrett Duvall is one of the organizers of relief efforts for ranchers impacted by wildfires. (Courtesy Garrett Duvall)
Effects Of Elk Fire Will Linger
Patty Caywood, owner of The Parkman Bar and Grill, said the donations from Texas have already been distributed to those in need, and that they are much appreciated by the entire community.
“The fire impacted our community in full force,” Caywood said.
The effect of the Elk Fire, which has burned more than 96,000 acres, is likely to linger for a long time after, particularly for the affected ranches. They have lost all-important hay to feed their cattle through winter, as well as rangelands that will need to rest at least a year before animals can once again graze them.
But it wasn’t just ranching supplies that Duvall brought with him, Caywood added. There were much-needed supplies to help area fire departments replenish as well.
“He brought up four boxes, two were for ranchers for animals that may have been injured during the fire, plus some supplies like milk bottles for the animals, and he brought two boxes of supplies for the fire departments,” Caywood said. “I’ll be delivering those to Ranchester and Dayton firehouses, plus a few other items.”
Caywood’s bar has been serving as a distribution point for Elk Fire donations for Bighorn communities, along with John Szymaniak, who runs the Elk Fire volunteers group on Facebook.
Caywood said all the donations that have come in to help Bighorn communities has warmed her heart.
“We’re living in a blessed community,” she said. “You know, what I thought was going to be just a regular, small little incident, unfortunately, became something much, much more. And it’s grown into something much bigger, based off of one contribution that came in as a check from a local person and just expanded from there.”
Caywood has planned at least one more fundraiser Saturday, the “Let It Rain” concert with members of the musical Munsick family, after which she plans to write some checks to local firehouses.
Hay For 3 Million Burned Acres
Knowing it’s going to be a long winter for many ranches that have been affected by either storms or wildfires, Broome said the Texas Ranchers Navy group is already working to stockpile hay, with an eye to helping ranchers make it through the winter.
Those who have needs are invited to make a direct post that on the group’s Facebook page, regardless of state.
“We know that need is going to be there throughout the winter,” she said. “When your pasture burns or there’s sludge, that land is unusable. The grass … oftentimes doesn’t grow back, or it’s too tender for the animals to eat. With livestock, it’s a long-term recovery process, so, while ranches might not need the hay right now, they will in a few months.”
Broome said the group has established a drop point in Amarillo for the hay stockpile, from which they will distribute hay as needed throughout the winter.
“California, Idaho, and certainly Wyoming and Montana are really experiencing the same thing (as Texas did),” Broome said. “This kind of groundbreaking fire activity that’s burning just huge, really unimaginable acreage. The Panhandle fire in Texas burned almost a million acres, and Wyoming’s right there. All combined, you guys are close to a million acres. We’re looking at upwards of 3 million acres that burned in the United States this year.”
Burned pastures don’t always make the headlines, Broome said. Homes and people’s lives aren’t necessarily lost, so there’s much less assistance available to help ranchers who have lost pastures.
“It’s really the community that steps up in those situations,” Broome said. “Which is kind of how we found our niche.”
That’s understandable, Broome added. Hurricanes and the like get more attention because homes and lives are lost. But, at the same time, the “lasting impact of these fires on ranch families is hitting during an already difficult economy and financial situation.”
“And when they lose these farms, in effect, these families who have farmed for generations, we lose the ability to feed our country,” Broome said. “So, this affects all of us when these farms and ranches burn. It affects everyone at the grocery store who is buying beef. It’s a big deal, so we try to step in and fill that gap.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
