Rancher Russell Jans of Piapot, Sask., will continue to fight for compensation from a fire that left him without winter pastures for his 550 cattle.
He said he isn’t happy with a legal judgment in August that failed to provide payment to him for a fire in September 1999 that cost him thousands of dollars.
“I didn’t think the judgment was worth a damn,” said Jans, who has launched an appeal.
In his ruling, judge Frank Gerein of Court of Queen’s Bench said independent contractor Gerald Sanderson of Piapot was negligent while removing fences at the Jans ranch for Ducks Unlimited. Gerein set damages suffered in the fire at more than $82,000.
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However, because Sanderson has declared bankruptcy, Gerein ruled that no judgment could be issued against him.
Gerein also found no liability against Ducks Unlimited and dismissed the action against it.
Jans has not received compensation for the grass fire that spread across 2,300 acres of his deeded and leased land. The fire forced him to truck animals to a feedlot.
“It put a real burden onto the place,” he said of the ranch he operates with sons Jay and Bryce.
He is appealing to recoup his losses and costs, including $40,000 in legal bills. Jans maintains Ducks Unlimited should be responsible for the work it contracts.
Sanderson had been hired by DU to remove a fence installed in 1988.
Brent Kennedy, Saskatchewan manager of provincial operations with Ducks Unlimited, said his group continues to work with Jans to remove fences to allow cattle access to water while protecting sensitive nesting sites.
He noted Jans had turned down earlier settlement offers by Ducks Unlimited’s insurance company in 2004 and 2005. The most recent was for $147,500.
The cause of the pasture fire is unknown, but Gerein ruled the most likely cause was Sanderson’s truck igniting the grass.
