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Colorado Ranchers Face Lasting Struggles After Lee Fire Scorches 137,000 Acres

Lone cow in burned Colorado pasture with smoke in background

By Jonathan Ingraham, Michael Braithwaite | The Gazette

'I've got some cattle whose feet are going to fall off, their backs so burnt that their hide is cracking and breaking,' one rancher said.

Cattle feverishly mooed in the middle of the early August night, an unusual sound to hear at that hour. 

Their unease was brought on by the Lee fire, which was quickly encroaching upon their enclosure at the 103-year-old Halandras family ranch, about 23 miles south of Meeker. 

The wildfire that started from lightning strikes on Aug. 2 was devouring prime northwestern Colorado grazing land that the family — and other ranchers — rely on faster than emergency crews could contain a stable fire line.

Regas K. Halandras recalled family members and ranch hands jumping into action for some “midnight cowboying” that night as they corralled the herd. The sky above them glowed orange and red, smoke billowing skyward from the burning sagebrush.

“Luckily, my brother’s cows were evacuated before the ranch burnt,” Halandras said. “We moved them after midnight just before the fires moved in.”

The Halandras family has been ranching sheep or cattle in the White River Valley for a century at its ranch near the intersection of Colorado Highway 13 and Rio Blanco County Rd 5 — the southeastern edge of the Lee fire’s boundary.

Regas, now 60, has been working at the ranch since his teenage years.

“We were told we couldn’t go in and get the cows at first,” he said, recounting his experience while officials were still gathering information about the fire. “But about 10 p.m., they gave us the OK. Sure, I was happy to do it in day time, no problem, but when they call and say go, you go.”

Regas said that even though the family operation is a smaller ranch — only around 100 cattle — the grazing lands atop the Roan Plateau, where the Lee fire burned, are vital not only to them, but also to the other families and ranchers raising Hereford and Black Angus cattle breeds. 

Colorado year-to-date wildfire acreage

FireLocationIncident Created DateColorado Acres
Colorado Total232,527
Lee11 Miles SW from Meeker, COAugust 3, 2025137,758
Turner Gulch8 Miles NE from Gateway, COJuly 10, 202531,699
Elk RBX10 Miles SE from Meeker, COAugust 2, 202514,519
Stoner Mesa11 Miles NE from Dolores, COJuly 29, 202510,249
Derby13 Miles N from Dotsero, COAugust 17, 20255,447
Twelve3 Miles NE from Elk Springs, COAugust 6, 20254,287
South Rim9 Miles E from Montrose, COJuly 10, 20254,232
31 North13.5 miles North of La Junta ColoradoMarch 18, 20253,108
Deer Creek1 Miles N from Old LaSal, UTJuly 10, 20252,597
South Meridian5 miles East of Colorado Springs COMarch 13, 20252,516
US 16013 miles east of Kim, COApril 7, 20252,275
Sowbelly16 Miles W from Delta, COJuly 10, 20252,274
Crosho8 Miles NW from Yampa, COAugust 11, 20252,073
Andrix20 miles East of Kim ColoradoMarch 11, 20251,938
Iron LadiesNone enteredMarch 17, 20251,451
31 South13 miles North of La Junta ColoradoMarch 18, 2025977
Horse Draw24 Miles E from Dinosaur, COJune 26, 2025750
Colowyo30 Miles SW from Craig, COJune 20, 2025587
Ute 63None enteredJuly 14, 2025534
Wright Draw8 Miles NE from Gateway, COJuly 11, 2025465
Hilltop7 Miles SE from Rifle, COJune 26, 2025329
Cottonwood Flat2 Miles E from Parachute, COJuly 17, 2025311
Elkhorn18 Miles N from Durango, COJuly 26, 2025298
SpencerNone enteredJune 29, 2025237
Waters Canyon14 Miles SW from Mancos, COAugust 2, 2025208
Leroux5 Miles N from Hotchkiss, COAugust 3, 2025195
La Plata4 Miles W from Twin Lakes, COAugust 18, 2025133
387None enteredApril 28, 2025118
Coulter CreekNone enteredAugust 3, 2025107
Jack SpringsNone enteredAugust 2, 2025104
Rim Road8 Miles SW from Ignacio, COJuly 26, 202595
Cottonwood CreekNone enteredJune 21, 202583
OakNone enteredAugust 10, 202570
Daniel RoadNone enteredApril 18, 202553
Bear Canyon20 Miles NE from Dinosaur, COJuly 6, 202547
Pinon HillsNone enteredJuly 11, 202547
Little CimarronNone enteredJuly 11, 202544
FreemanNone enteredMay 25, 202538
Fault LineNone enteredMay 26, 202534
YellowjacketNone enteredAugust 15, 202524
MaverickNone enteredAugust 4, 202522
Kurth3 Miles W from Greystone, COJuly 6, 202521
EnochNone enteredAugust 3, 202520
314None enteredFebruary 13, 202520
RidgeNone enteredJune 17, 202516
BunkwaterNone enteredJuly 31, 202514
HayNone enteredJune 5, 202513
Dry GulchNone enteredJanuary 21, 202512
FlatNone enteredApril 7, 202510
Red CanyonNone enteredJune 18, 20259
CanyonNone enteredApril 10, 20259
talbotNone enteredAugust 12, 20257
Ladore CampNone enteredJuly 1, 20256
BaxterNone enteredAugust 22, 20255
South ArkansasNone enteredMarch 26, 20254
4000 BlockNone enteredFebruary 5, 20254
Grape CreekNone enteredJune 26, 20254
285None enteredFebruary 11, 20253
Holms MesaNone enteredJuly 6, 20253
Callan DrawNone enteredAugust 2, 20253
LoggingNone enteredJuly 27, 20252
321 CommandNone enteredJune 19, 20252
SandwashNone enteredJuly 7, 20252
RabbitNone enteredMarch 5, 20251
Horse MesaNone enteredJune 1, 20251
County Rd Z/6None enteredApril 10, 20251
Monument GulchNone enteredJune 3, 20251
RangeNone enteredJuly 4, 20251
UteNone enteredMay 24, 20251
Hard awayNone enteredMarch 24, 20251
FarnhamNone enteredAugust 6, 20251
Rawah FireNone enteredJuly 28, 20251
SiouxNone enteredAugust 8, 20250
Wells GulchNone enteredJune 20, 20250
Horse MountainNone enteredMay 9, 20250
Bare HillsNone enteredApril 8, 20250
C 41None enteredJune 17, 20250
16 RoadNone enteredJune 23, 20250
Lone PineNone enteredAugust 21, 20250
Lewis Creek 2None enteredJuly 30, 20250
ParkdaleNone enteredJuly 26, 20250
Trail GulchNone enteredMay 26, 20250

Throughout its burn, the Lee fire consumed 137,758 acres of land, making it the fifth-largest wildfire in state history.

Colorado’s wildfire season in 2025 has been the worst since 2020, according to statistics collected from the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 232,527 acres of land has burned in the state so far this year, but, luckily, there’s been no fatalities and no where near the structures damaged or destroyed as large fires of previous years, such as the Marshall fire or the East Troublesome fire of 2020.

Colorado wildfire burn area worst since 2020

Chart: Evan Wyloge•Source: National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) •Get the data•Created with Datawrapper

Ranchers’ businesses burned by the Lee fire

Rancher’s operations and the land they use, whether private or permitted through the Bureau of Land Management, come with several overlooked costs built into their work, Regas said.

One of those costs is the price of hay, which cattle consume during the colder months of late fall, winter and early spring on ranching properties, as the grazing fields up high are not fully accessible.

“Ranchers depend on the land for summer grazing,” Regas said. “If they lose summer range land due to fire, they have to bring livestock down to open meadows earlier, feeding them ahead of schedule, like through October or more, into December or later.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE GAZETTE

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