Gilliam SWCD outlines virtual fencing rollout after Lone Rock fire; FFA students helped build towers

Gilliam County Court on March 5 heard a presentation from the Gilliam Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) on an expanded virtual fencing program intended to help producers recover grazing access and speed post‑fire rangeland recovery following last year’s Lone Rock fire.

The SWCD described a multi‑year rollout that began with two trial towers and early‑adopter producers last fall and winter and aims to scale to a watershed‑wide grazing strategy using mobile radio towers and GPS‑collars to create movable livestock boundaries. Herb Whitmer, district manager for the Gilliam SWCD, told the court the program is intended to protect sensitive riparian areas, reduce overgrazing and give ranchers quicker access to pasture that lacks physical fencing after wildfire.

Whitmer said a third‑party company estimated the full burn footprint would require about 26 towers; the SWCD asked the court in August for $150,000 to buy and deploy 10 mobile towers and related equipment and reported additional funding from the SWCD ($33,000) and a grant from the Ford Family Foundation. The district said the county’s initial $150,000 investment already under way helped get the program started.

"We brought two out this fall," Whitmer said, adding the SWCD would "ramp things up this spring." Project manager Roger Leitzer outlined the equipment: solar‑powered collars for livestock, trailer‑mounted mobile towers and software to establish virtual boundaries. He said a shortage of collars last winter slowed deployment but that the manufacturer was coming out of backlog and expected to meet demand by the end of the month.

FFA students from Condon High School participated in assembling towers and trailers. The court heard a written statement from FFA advisor Marilee Anderson and a speech delivered by student Willow (last name not given in the public record), who described how virtual fencing helped local producers gather animals and manage pasture rotation after the fires, and how the FFA partnered in assembling towers.

The SWCD reported program goals and early metrics: the Upper Rock Creek watershed spans roughly 77,000 acres, about 52% of which burned in the Lone Rock incident; the district estimated nearly 300 miles of fence damaged and said the program plans to collar roughly 840 animals this spring where producers have signed up. The district said they were pursuing additional funding — about $220,000 in applications to OWEB, FEMA and other sources — and described workshops held in late January and local outreach partnerships including NRCS, OSU Extension and the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center.

The SWCD asked the court to continue supporting the program so the same engineering and local relationships remain in place through the federal funding award process. Commissioners asked technical and procurement questions and were thanked by SWCD staff for county support. Whitmer also alerted the court that USDA service center lease decisions announced at the federal level could affect the local building that houses FSA and NRCS staff; the SWCD said it was monitoring that development.

The court did not take a formal vote on new funding at the March 5 meeting. Whitmer said the district will return with updates and continue grant applications and outreach work.

The presentation underscored multi‑agency cooperation — Gilliam SWCD, FFA, NRCS, OSU Extension and private producers — and emphasized the program’s short‑term role as a temporary replacement for damaged physical fence while producers rebuild.