I read with interest a couple weeks back about a project by the Dept. of the Interior, which runs the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, to put a lot of cows to graze the Refuge in summer months.

Cattle would be provided by area farmers to graze in areas of the Refuge away from contacts by visiting people. A farmer from Clearwater has already had animals in the Refuge and was expected to be one of several herdsmen venturing their animals onto the scene this year.

Research is apparently providing that cows and grazing is helpful to the ecology of the land.

We saw barbed wire fences going up all over the Refuge a few years back, and some animals did graze the spaces for some time.

But, with all this renewed interest in cattle grazing the Refuge, I have one question.

The Dept. of the Interior started sending letters and making visits to the farm homes of three or four dozen families living on the land back in 1965.

Their message was: “We want your land for a federal park.”

Some of the farmers took the Feds at their word and gave up their land.

But a lot of them didn’t - and resulted in contentitous relationships for several years before they were kicked off their land - and it became “park.”

Younger generations of those farmers still live in the area and remember the spiteful situation.

Their families didn’t want to go - but they didn’t get the last word. 

Remember, the whole point of “emminent domain” is that the government has the right to step in and seize property (paying something for it, naturally) if its future use  has some important public purpose.

Like, savanna oak forest.

The Refuge people have been chortling that purpose for 50 years now. 

The park serves many good public purposes, like a sanctuary for birds, animals and plant species. The public is invited in to take part in many educational activities.

We’ve well noted those purposes in our extensive editorial coverage of Refuge activities.

But, the question remains. If farmers and their cows had to be removed from the Refuge in the late 1960’s to make way for a better plan for use of the land, why are cows being recruited again to help the land?

The pain of lost businesses due to the kicking of cow farmers off that land is lost on most of us, because it happened so long ago. But talk to the longtimers who knew the Santiago Creamery in its day - and how its days began to begin being numbered with all the cows (and their milk) that left the Refuge. They’ll have some comments, too.