(Omaha World-Herald (NE) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nov. 27--BASSETT, Neb. -- Before he died in 2001, Harold Hutton agreed to donate his 4,900-acre ranch along the Niobrara River to Audubon of Kansas Inc. for a wildlife sanctuary.

The rancher, who wrote books about local outlaws and the scenic river, specified that a local rancher continue to graze his cattle there in a way to "complement" the grouse, curlew and turkeys.

But today, those plans have disintegrated into a bitter dispute and lawsuits over the proper way to manage for birds and bovines on the Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary.

This spring, after negotiations for a new grazing lease broke down, the Audubon group attempted to evict Joe Leonard, the ranch manager Hutton specified in his will. Audubon claimed that Leonard had overgrazed the land.

Leonard, who lives in Hutton's former home, responded with two lawsuits. One, to block the eviction, says Audubon is trying to destroy his ranching operation. The second accuses Audubon's director, Ron Klataske, of meddling with Leonard's use of the land.

A month ago, Audubon asked a judge to assess about $75,000 in damages against Leonard, alleging that the rancher had exceeded the agreed limit of 250 cow-calf pairs on the property.

The dispute has halted development of the Hutton sanctuary into a tourist-attracting wildlife site that eventually would feature a visitors center and a display of artwork by Hutton's late wife, Lucille.

It's a conflict perhaps bound to happen -- managing land for birds and cattle is fraught with possible friction as both compete for the grass that blankets the ranch. And the five-year lease with Leonard, which ran out last year, was negotiated by Lucille Hutton with no input from Audubon officials on their desire for less grazing.

Around Bassett, the ranch manager has many supporters who say he is getting a bum rap from a distant organization that doesn't fully understand ranching or hasn't taken into account recent drought conditions.

"They just don't have any respect for the spirit of the agreement, which was a working ranch," said a neighboring rancher, Lance Kuck.

Audubon officials say they are defending the goal of Hutton's donation, which was to create a wildlife sanctuary. They say conditions of the new lease, which Leonard rejected, would have contained more restrictions on grazing that are necessary to establish a wildlife preserve.

"It's a very difficult for a landowner to manage property unless they have some say in how the property is utilized," Klataske said of the old lease.

Hutton donated his land to the Kansas organization because it was run by a longtime friend, Klataske, whom Hutton met when both were opposing construction of the Norden Dam.

The dam project, eventually defeated, would have inundated local ranches as well as the most popular canoeing waters of the Niobrara River.

Hutton, those interviewed said, was an opponent of overgrazing and cherished wildlife so much that he didn't allow hunting on his property. Yet, he wasn't against dynamiting beaver dams that disrupted ranching operations and -- like many ranchers -- disliked prairie dogs.

In his agreement with Audubon of Kansas, Hutton specified that Leonard should manage the ranching operations and wildlife sanctuary "as long as he will carry out the responsibilities reasonably assigned to him."

Whether he's done that is the crux of the controversy.

Leonard, in a telephone interview, said he is fulfilling Hutton's wishes. He said he feels that Audubon wants no cattle on the property. Audubon of Kansas officials dispute both statements.

Leonard said the local extension agent -- specified in the original lease as the judge of proper grazing -- inspected the property every year and approved of his practices.

Leonard also said Hutton would roll over in his grave over Audubon's plans to reintroduce prairie dogs and the cutting, but not removal, of hundreds of cedar trees.

"They're funny people. They're all about the wildlife," he said of Audubon officials. "They think I've ruined it, and I haven't."

Leonard, who has never been paid as intended for managing the land, said the dispute began when he refused to sign a new lease restricting grazing of cattle to only five months rather than year round.

Klataske and Dick Seaton, a Manhattan, Kan., attorney and vice president of the Audubon of Kansas board, said the new lease sought to moderate grazing pressure and to increase the lease payments, which Seaton said were a fraction of typical local rates.

Klataske said cattle and wildlife can coexist, but livestock grazing must conform with good grazing practices.

If there's a drought, grazing must be curtailed, he said, adding that there wasn't enough grass left on some pastures this spring to conduct controlled burning to cut back on unwanted cedar trees.

Klataske said the burning would have taken care of the cedar trees cut down on the property. He said Hutton would have agreed with Audubon's management of beaver dams and with a plan to establish a controlled prairie dog town for wildlife viewing.

The dispute is working its way through Rock County District Court, where Judge Mark Kozisek has scheduled a telephone hearing for Thursday to discuss the two lawsuits filed by Leonard.

Leonard said he has taken out a mortgage on his own ranchland to finance the court battle and to rent additional pasture land. "It's hurt me pretty bad financially," he said.

Audubon wants to resolve the management issues by this spring and move forward with its plans for wildlife tours and viewing blinds.

"We want to make it a first-class nature sanctuary/working ranch," said Seaton, the Audubon board member. "(But) it's a compromise, and compromise takes two to tango."

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