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I just found this thread, and feel compelled to throw in my two cents worth.
The Dale that Henry Lamb mentions in the article is actually my husband and Kit Laney's brother, and the Albert is our 13 (not 14) year old son.
Albert did tell me that the "officer" told him that they are going to "get him too", and he doesn't lie. I'm perfectly confident that is exactly what the "officer" said.
Kit and Sherry never had any kids, the closest they could come was providing the parents with "grand puppies" as we all laughingly teased them about.
Kit and Sherry are both good people, both come from a long line of ranching families (they are both fourth generation ranchers, I'm a fifth generation rancher myself, but we don't quibble over the small details). They really do believe in what they're fighting for, as a lot of folks here do. The support they have received is awesome!
They did take their stock (about 1000 head of cattle) off the Diamond Bar in 1996, I believe, sold a lot of them off, leased a place down by Gila, NM, for 4 years, and then 2 different places up by Logan, NM for about 3 years, and ran the 300 or so head that was left. During this time, they applied for a grazing permit from the FS three times, and were turned down three times. Wilderness District Ranger Annette Chavez gave only the reason that they weren't considering stocking the Diamond Bar with cattle at that time. She also pointed out that the range was unsuitable for cattle. Kit and Sherry requested the Range Management Task Force from NMSU to come look over the ranch, and give their educated openion. They stated that the range was in excellent condition, and would easily support 1200 head.
I might be skeptical of why the FS wouldn't issue a new permit, if they hadn't done about the same thing to my dad in 1999....after that incident, I don't put anything past the dirty SOBs. They are a crooked bunch, and that's the best of them, in our observations.