Devastated by fire and drought and floods, Utah may be designated as a federal disaster area.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. plans to ask U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to declare 25 of the state's 29 counties agriculture disaster areas. The request is prompted in large part by wildfires that have devastated hundreds of thousands of acres of ranch and pasture land.

A disaster declaration would be welcome news for ranchers who saw their rangelands destroyed by fires, especially the Neola North, Milford Flat and Salt Creek fires. With the declarations, they would qualify for low-interest loans, and currently reserved grazing areas could be opened.

Based on initial assessments, the destruction caused by the fires is widespread. Leonard Blackham, Utah's commissioner of agriculture, said that almost 50 percent of grazing areas have been ruined, and 7,000 cattle and 3,000 sheep have been displaced. More than 2,000 cattle have been killed.

But the fires are not the only reason for the requested declaration, Blackham said. There is also the ongoing drought, insect invasions and floods.

"It's not just the guys hit by fires who are hurting," he said. "It's those hurt by fire, by drought or by anything else."

All told, he said it is estimated that the economic impact is $141 million.

The only problem for farmers is that the federal money is not always efficiently delivered, which is something that state leaders have already considered. State Planning Coordinator Mike Mower said that Huntsman and legislative leaders have already decided to tap the state's considerable surplus as much as possible to help the farmers and ranchers immediately, even if it means sorting out reimbursements from the federal government at a later date.

One of the immediate ways they will try to help is by getting the burned lands reseeded in a way that hopefully prevents the spread of cheatgrass. The invasive weed, which can regrow in only a couple of years, is being blamed for the rapid spread and size of the fires.

"The governor recognizes it will take millions of dollars if we are going to help rehabilitate those lands and eradicate the cheatgrass," he said. "Fortunately, this has been a good (financial) year for the state, and these funds will likely be there."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com