As ranchers drive cattle through Logan Canyon for new pastures, traffic may be delayed

LOGAN, Utah (ABC4) — Drivers may be experiencing delays through Logan Canyon as ranchers drive cattle across the canyon, but due to construction, the cattle delays should be shorter then compared to previous years.

Over 1,300 cattle are being moved from August 11 to August 15, and the U.S. Forest Service is asking drivers to slow down and be cautious between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., though there may also be stray cattle hanging around in the area at night.

Madelyn Kunzler, one of the ranchers driving cattle, spoke to ABC4.com about why exactly they’re moving their cattle.

“This is the time of year that the Logan Canyon Cattle Association moves about 13 head of cattle from our spring range, which is kind of the Right Hand Fork area, and we’re moving them over into the Tony Grove area,” Kunzler explained.

They move them into new pastures so that the cattle can have new feed, and so that the environment can recover.

“It takes probably about five to six hours, just between gathering the cattle out of the different pastures and then actually trailing them,” she said.

Because of road closures due to construction, ranchers are not driving the cattle down the road like they normally would, Kunzler said. Instead, they will just be crossing the road about a mile south of Tony Grove.

“It should be a very brief closure, 15 minutes at tops,” Kunzler said, and those closures will happen between one and two p.m.

The heat provides a struggle for cattle wranglers, and the cattle don’t want to move. “Think of it from a human point of view, we really don’t want to go hiking at this time of day either,” Kunzler said. “So you get to the point where it’s getting hot, and they don’t really want to move, as well as, you want to make sure that your cow has their calf, so we stop at times to let them pair up.”

Moving cattle through the back country is a challenge of its own. There is a lot of deadfall, Kunzler said, and so they have to maneuver the cattle around that and make sure that the cows stay together.

“We’re doing our best, we’re trying to be efficient, and we’re trying to do what’s best for the animals and for the ecosystem up here, so really patience and understanding that we really do want what’s best for Logan Canyon,” Kunzler said. She added that she hopes environmentalists and those who use these lands for recreation understand that these ranchers really do care for these lands.