European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Labor shortage is redefining life on american ranches. A Cowboy crunch k553zse buckaroo shortage on . Ranches by Jenifer Warren los Angeles times t he american Cowboy that. Lanky leather faced Bow legged archetype of the West is a vanishing Breed. From the Texas Panhandle to Montana a big sky country frustrated cattle ranchers say the once ample Supply of savvy reliable cowhand has Plum dried up. Quot finding a Good co puncher is darn near impossible these Days Quot griped Lynn Anderson a lifelong cattleman with a ranch outside Kingman Ariz. Quot there s nobody around who a willing to put up with the hard sweaty work the isolation the Low pay and the dangers of the  the decline of the buckaroo amounts to More than a sad historical footnote. The labor shortage is redefining life on american ranches prompting Many members of the $37 billion cattle Industry to thin herds team up with neighbors and alter management practices to stay afloat. On some sprawling spreads in West Texas for instance ranchers Are saving hours of Saddle time by using helicopters to round up livestock. In Wyoming the situation is particularly grim a and a Tad embarrassing. After All there Are Bronco Riding cowboys on every License plate and helmeted cowboys on the University of Wyoming football team. But dad gum it the states ranch owners say there just ainu to any real life cowboys to be found. In desperation some cattlemen have begun importing foreign workers to ride the Range. Under a provision of the emigration Reform and control act passed by Congress in 1986, ranchers May hire temporary foreign help if they inn fill Fly first prove that no qualified americans want the Job. Rory Cross struggled fruitlessly to find local hands to work his powder Horn ranch in Beaver wyo., a tiny settlement 50 Miles South of Casper in the Foothills of the Medicine bowl mountains. Quot they either done to know cattle done to want to work hard or tend to want to go into town and get drunk Quot lamented Cross 53, a third generation rancher and representative in the state legislature. Frustrated Cross opted to take advantage of the new Law and hired two foreign Vaqueros a one from Mexico another from Peru. The process was tortuous and expensive but Worth it the rancher says. A these Guys Are great workers Quot Cross said recently As he watched Cesario Celestino Soto from Lima ride in across the rolling Grassland after a morning of branding. A a they re steady and they done to complain when you ask them to fix a Fence or dig an irrigation  like Cross ranchers in Montana Arizona and Colorado have brought in cowboys from South of the Border. Cattlemen in Texas new Mexico and Utah May soon follow suit. Before Long some Industry experts predict foreign cowboys May be As common a sight on the Range As a White faced Hereford. Quot cowboys have a romantic image but it takes a lot of dedication skill and desire to do the Job and americans done to seem to want to make the sacrifices the life demands any More a said Peter Decker a Colorado rancher and former state agricultural commissioner. The roots of the Cowboy crunch go Back several decades As higher paying less grueling jobs in the nations cities drained Rural populations. Ranchers Quot scrounged up third generation Texas cowboys the peacocks of Albany from left George s3, with younger Brothers Troy and Benny. Not and shared whatever hands they could find Quot and began modernizing their operations to Cut their use of labor said Byron Price executive director of the Oklahoma City based National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Still Slicker management could not eliminate the need for manpower and thus Many ranchers began filling the Gap by hiring mexican hands. This proved a fruitful relationship. With cattle a major commodity in Northern Mexico most of the undocumented workers had already mastered the rudiments of the Cowboy life a Riding roping and branding. In 1986, however Congress broke up this Friendly arrangement passing an immigration Reform package that sought to Stem the tide of illegal aliens entering the United states. Suddenly ranchers a like other employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers a faced the threat of hefty sanctions by the government. Quot the Law was a big Jolt Quot said Jack Huning who owns a ranch outside of Albuquerque . Quot you started seeing articles in the papers about raids and big fines. It made you  Huning said he Quot had to let two Good mexican cowboys go Quot because he a just could t take the  Many Veteran Vaqueros qualified for amnesty under the immigration Reform Law and these men a like americans before them a Hung up their lariats and moved into More lucrative industries. At the same time new applicants seemed scarcer perhaps deterred by reports that Many outfits were no longer hiring illegal aliens. Ranchers have redoubled labor saving efforts such As using helicopters and Al terrain cycles both for chasing Down wayward heifers and for travelling pastures on Fence mending missions. Quot you try to Cut your calving time you Pool resources with other ranches you basically do anything to get by with fewer bodies Quot said Chandler keys a spokesman for the National cattlemen a association in Washington. But most cattle raisers still say they Are scraping by with a smaller Crew than they need to manage their herds. As Decker put it Quot of the ranchers i know throughout the West they Are All every Day looking for Good  monday june 18, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13