1 00:00:02,066 --> 00:00:04,933 JUDY WOODRUFF: Tension between ranchers and environmentalists is nothing new, but climate 2 00:00:04,933 --> 00:00:09,933 change could be exacerbating one particular issue: water rights. 3 00:00:12,033 --> 00:00:15,033 From Iowa Public TV, Josh Buettner reports about one decades-long dispute in New Mexico. 4 00:00:17,533 --> 00:00:22,266 JOSH BUETTNER: Like generations before him, Spike Goss runs cattle in New Mexico's Sacramento 5 00:00:24,166 --> 00:00:29,033 Mountains, land later designated part of the Lincoln National Forest by President Teddy 6 00:00:29,633 --> 00:00:31,733 Roosevelt. 7 00:00:31,733 --> 00:00:33,300 SPIKE GOSS, Sacramento Grazing Association: My rights come long before New Mexico became 8 00:00:33,300 --> 00:00:36,066 a state, long before there was a U.S. Forest Service. 9 00:00:36,066 --> 00:00:40,966 JOSH BUETTNER: But in recent decades, endangered species protections have resulted in cuts 10 00:00:40,966 --> 00:00:44,566 to the number of head Goss can graze on federal land. 11 00:00:44,566 --> 00:00:47,366 SPIKE GOSS: Forest Service says we are a permittee. 12 00:00:47,366 --> 00:00:49,233 We're not permittees. 13 00:00:49,233 --> 00:00:50,233 We're allotment owners. 14 00:00:50,233 --> 00:00:51,233 We own our allotments. 15 00:00:51,233 --> 00:00:52,700 We bought it. 16 00:00:52,700 --> 00:00:55,166 And then we pay a grazing fee on top of that. 17 00:00:55,166 --> 00:01:00,200 And, yes, in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that we own the water rights. 18 00:01:02,133 --> 00:01:05,233 JOSH BUETTNER: In the late 1800s, Congress struck a unique set of land, water and grazing 19 00:01:07,266 --> 00:01:11,033 allowances by granting settlers property, known as allotments, to encourage Westward 20 00:01:11,633 --> 00:01:13,766 Expansion. 21 00:01:13,766 --> 00:01:17,266 But, over decades, Goss alleges shifting government policies and court challenges have left land 22 00:01:18,233 --> 00:01:19,533 and water rights unclear. 23 00:01:19,533 --> 00:01:21,300 SPIKE GOSS: They want our water. 24 00:01:21,300 --> 00:01:23,833 If they can get the water, they can control us. 25 00:01:23,833 --> 00:01:24,966 They have us. 26 00:01:24,966 --> 00:01:27,100 I mean, we're finished without water. 27 00:01:27,100 --> 00:01:31,566 JOSH BUETTNER: In 1993, the Mexican spotted owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered 28 00:01:32,333 --> 00:01:34,366 Species Act. 29 00:01:34,366 --> 00:01:38,766 Soon after, two plants, the Sacramento Mountain thistle and the prickly poppy, joined the 30 00:01:39,233 --> 00:01:41,300 list. 31 00:01:41,300 --> 00:01:45,400 The Forest Service erected fences to protect critical stream bank habitat. 32 00:01:47,366 --> 00:01:51,366 Environmentalists say cattle congregate around waterways, strip away vegetation and upset 33 00:01:51,366 --> 00:01:53,700 ecosystems. 34 00:01:53,700 --> 00:01:58,600 Goss sued the federal government, but it took 13 years before a judge ruled against the 35 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,566 Forest Service, saying the agency violated the Fifth Amendment by blocking Goss' access 36 00:02:04,666 --> 00:02:08,200 to natural water sources for his herd. 37 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,933 Goss says, rather than all the fences coming down, he's actually seen more added. 38 00:02:12,933 --> 00:02:17,666 SPIKE GOSS: They just started this, putting these fences in the exclosures, these small 39 00:02:17,666 --> 00:02:19,733 fences in the exclosures. 40 00:02:19,733 --> 00:02:24,600 JOSH BUETTNER: Beth Humphrey, a retired district ranger, says the Forest Service is governed 41 00:02:26,566 --> 00:02:30,833 by a multiple-use policy that requires weighing input from several stakeholders, along with 42 00:02:32,466 --> 00:02:34,533 other tasks, like fire prevention and wildlife management. 43 00:02:34,533 --> 00:02:37,066 BETH HUMPHREY, Former District Ranger, Lincoln National Forest: In general, if we fence out 44 00:02:37,066 --> 00:02:41,666 a piece of ground, it's to protect for threatened endangered species, or, in some cases, we 45 00:02:43,066 --> 00:02:46,366 will fence off an area to protect erosive soils. 46 00:02:46,366 --> 00:02:51,366 JOSH BUETTNER: In 2014, another threatened species, the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, 47 00:02:53,333 --> 00:02:57,466 was granted endangered species protection, further deadlocking rangers and ranchers over 48 00:02:57,466 --> 00:02:59,433 water rights and habitat. 49 00:02:59,433 --> 00:03:04,166 And in a meeting between the Forest Service and Goss' Sacramento Grazing Association, 50 00:03:05,366 --> 00:03:07,333 his wife expressed their frustration. 51 00:03:07,333 --> 00:03:08,133 KELLY GOSS, Sacramento Grazing Association: This is wasting our time. 52 00:03:08,133 --> 00:03:09,333 It's wasting your time. 53 00:03:09,333 --> 00:03:11,266 If you want this damn water, pay for it! 54 00:03:11,266 --> 00:03:16,200 JOSH BUETTNER: The dispute reflects the larger debate over land use and water rights. 55 00:03:18,666 --> 00:03:22,233 Legal battles and deadly confrontations between ranchers and federal authorities have occurred, 56 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,533 most recently in Nevada and Oregon. 57 00:03:26,533 --> 00:03:31,200 Rural ranchers fear their interests are losing out to those who live in urban areas and favor 58 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,933 environmental protections. 59 00:03:33,933 --> 00:03:37,166 Patrick Nolan is a member of Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. 60 00:03:37,166 --> 00:03:39,133 PATRICK NOLAN, Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks: I think we need to be honest and say 61 00:03:39,133 --> 00:03:44,033 that the land here has been overgrazed, and we need to really figure out a way to bring 62 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,100 it back to its glory of what it used to be. 63 00:03:49,100 --> 00:03:54,100 JOSH BUETTNER: But amidst New Mexico's harsh cyclical drought, water rights are critical 64 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,500 for ranchers like the Gosses. 65 00:03:57,500 --> 00:04:01,100 And they say they will continue to fight against an agenda intent on disrupting their viability. 66 00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:03,733 KELLY GOSS: They just continue to take and take and take. 67 00:04:03,733 --> 00:04:08,733 JOSH BUETTNER: But ranchers' hope, with President Trump now in office, their rights to access 68 00:04:10,166 --> 00:04:11,833 natural forest resources will finally be resolved. 69 00:04:11,833 --> 00:04:15,666 SPIKE GOSS: We haven't seen it yet, but we hope, hope soon. 70 00:04:15,666 --> 00:04:19,900 We would like for somebody back there to come out here and take a good hard look at this 71 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:24,900 and look at our issues and listen to some stuff that's been going on and look at some 72 00:04:26,766 --> 00:04:29,800 of our documentation and mostly follow the law. 73 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,866 I don't believe they're following the law at all. 74 00:04:31,866 --> 00:04:36,866 JOSH BUETTNER: Goss' suit is still in court while a judge determines damages against the 75 00:04:37,466 --> 00:04:38,966 Forest Service. 76 00:04:38,966 --> 00:04:41,633 Because of that, the agency said it can't comment on the case. 77 00:04:41,633 --> 00:04:46,300 For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Josh Buettner in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.