Sixth-generation rancher Lauren Sizemore has never seen this much snow on the ground reaching all the way down to sea level around her family’s Lonestar Ranch in rural Humboldt County.
The northern California ranch’s 300 cattle usually have no problem finding land to graze during the winter. But 70 cows crossed over a creek during recent winter storms onto the south side of the property.
“These cattle were just stuck and unable to feed,” Sizemore told The Epoch Times March 10.
Sizemore was just one of many ranchers who were cut off from their cattle after snow blocked private roadways in the county.
“It’s heart-wrenching to know you can’t do anything about it,” she said.
After getting many calls for help, local and state officials teamed up this week to drop nearly 200 bales of hay by helicopter to about 18 ranches, providing feed for stranded cows across the county.
Dubbed “Operation Hay Drop,” the aerial delivery was completed Friday afternoon, just in time for a few hours of clear weather to melt enough snow for Sizemore’s cattle to graze again.
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal worked with local county supervisors, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to coordinate the operation.
The sheriff had received multiple calls about cows dying, he said.
About 30 ranchers were able to get the hay delivered safely by CalFire’s helicopter. The hay was provided by private sources, and ranches will pay for it, according to Honsal.
“We’re glad to help,” said Kurt McCray, a CalFire unit chief in the Humboldt-Del Norte region, in the video.
For weeks, several storms have pummeled the region leaving behind four feet of snow at the highest elevations down to a couple of inches near sea level. And more storms were expected over the weekend and into next week.
The unusual hay drop operation helped 30 ranches in the area, Humboldt Sheriff office’s spokeswoman Samantha Karges told The Epoch Times.
“At this point, we’re pretty much at capacity with the number of ranchers we’re servicing,” Karges said.
The operation has been impacted by ongoing winter weather and helicopters were grounded Thursday, she said.
Meanwhile, the area was bracing for more rain and snow.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” Sizemore said about the ranch she runs with her husband and three children. Her mother and father, a fifth-generation rancher on the property, live with them and still help out, she said.
Even though she doesn’t expect many of the cattle to die in the storms, the cows are now calving, or giving birth, and many calves could die this year as a result, the rancher said.
“This has [not only] impacted us short term, but also for the next 18 months,” Sizemore added.
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