STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Oregon is coming off a record wildfire season. Almost 2 million acres burned, much of it rangeland. The state put in a big request for aid with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but as NPR's Kirk Siegler reports, many ranchers say they're not included.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: When one of eastern Oregon's biggest wildfires ignited last July, Bill Moore (ph) and his cowboys knew they had to act fast to move their cattle.
BILL MOORE: One bunch, we got out of one of these kind of safe harbor areas, and within hours of getting them out, you know, that whole thing burned up.
SIEGLER: Almost all of Moore's private and federally leased range land burned. A trio of infernos blackened a huge swath of cattle country as big as Los Angeles County. Ranchers are still trying to find cows, locate which fences, corrals or water tanks burned.
MOORE: You know, it's going to be a pretty tough pill.
SIEGLER: The fires were so big and over such remote country that it took a while to tally the damage. So just a few days ago, state leaders asked FEMA for a major disaster declaration to help pay for the losses. But that application left out the three eastern Oregon counties with some of the most acres burned. That's because FEMA hands out aid based on how much public infrastructure was destroyed, like houses, businesses or power lines. In eastern Oregon, only a few actual structures were lost. So ranchers like Moore, who lost fencing and valuable grass, are out of luck.
MOORE: Quantifying, OK, so what's your range land produce; you know, how much forage did you lose? You know, it's a little different than saying, my house is insured for $500,000, and it's a total loss kind of a thing.
SIEGLER: Now, are other federal farm disaster programs that should help pay these ranchers for things like fences and soil rehab. A spokeswoman for Oregon's governor told NPR the state is committed to helping them get as much of that federal money as possible. But Katie Wollstein, a rangeland fire specialist at Oregon State University, says each program has its own application, and showing your receipts for things like trucks to haul the dead cows to the rendering plant can get onerous.
KATIE WOLLSTEIN: They need to track down the number, kind, type, weight range of the livestock that have died. Ideally, this is supplemented by photographs or video.
SIEGLER: Approval for these aid programs will take months, and Wollstein says ranchers need help right now. With winter coming, the worry is many can't afford to keep paying for hay, and they'll have to start selling off their herds - a big hit for the rural economy.
Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Boise.
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