Henry heading for Panhandle Wednesday

By John David Sutter

Published: July 15, 2008

Gov. Brad Henry has announced he will visit the drought-stricken Oklahoma Panhandle on Wednesday.

The visit is said to be the governor's first to Cimarron County, which is at the far western end of the Oklahoma Panhandle, about 325 miles from Oklahoma City.

The trip is largely seen as symbolic by Panhandle residents, many of whom harvested dust instead of wheat this year or had to sell off cattle because there was no grass for them to eat.

Climatologists and residents have compared the situation to the devastating Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently approved low-interest loans and tax extensions for farmers in Cimarron and Texas counties. That program comes as part of a disaster declaration made for 13 counties in Texas that suffered a major fire in March. Since the two Oklahoma counties border those in Texas, they receive the same benefits, said USDA spokeswoman Kerry Humphrey.

Henry and others have called for a disaster declaration in a number of drought-hit counties in western Oklahoma, including the Panhandle counties. That declaration is still pending but may come soon, Humphrey said.

More farmers would be eligible for help over a longer period of time if the second declaration is made, according to state Agriculture Secretary Terry Peach.

Some Panhandle residents have said the state was slow to notice the drought conditions.

Local officials sent a letter to the governor's office about the situation May 23. The governor requested drought relief from the federal government about three weeks later, on June 16.

Henry and Peach have said they purposefully delayed the request so that farmers who sell their cattle late in the summer or note their crop losses late will still be eligible for aid.

C.F. David, a newspaper owner in Boise City, questioned that logic.

The Boise City News put out a $50 bounty for anyone who could prove the governor had ever visited Cimarron County, at the western end of the Panhandle. David, the weekly newspaper's editor and publisher, says he plans to hand Henry a $50 check when the governor visits.

David said aid is coming too slowly to the Panhandle, but that he's quite pleased about the governor's visit.

Jim Belford, a rancher near Boise City, said he was happy he would benefit from the current aid.

"They're doing their job," he said of state officials. "They squeak wheel gets the grease ... and we needed to squeak to make that deal happen."

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