Nygren secures $75,000 stopgap to keep ranch, livestock program open
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The Padres Mesa Demonstration Ranch and the New Lands livestock program were on the brink of losing funding, but President Buu Nygren secured a short-term deal with the Office of Navajo Hopi Indian Relocation to keep them operating through the end of 2025.
In a Sept. 17 letter to ONHIR Executive Director Chris Bavasi, Nygren requested $75,000 in emergency funding to cover three months of ranch costs. He called the programs “essential to the long-term benefit of relocatees, consistent with the intent of the Settlement Act and subsequent federal obligations.”
“Because these programs are essential, if the funds requested in this letter are provided before October 1, 2025, the Navajo Nation agrees to maintain these programs through the balance of the calendar year (and, hopefully, for many years thereafter),” Nygren wrote.
The letter outlined $25,000 per month as a “reasonable approximation” for operating costs and emphasized the need for a transfer before Sept. 30 to prevent shutdowns. Bavasi signed off on the request Sept. 17, 2025.
Nygren also created a Padres Mesa Demonstration Ranch Team to coordinate with ONHIR and local partners. Vince Redhouse, the executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, was appointed team lead. Other members include Sarah Slim, the executive director of the Navajo Hopi Land Commission Office, the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, a ranching consultant “likely retained through the Navajo Nation Department of Justice,” and Bill Inman, the ranch manager.
The team “is tasked with coordinating” with ONHIR, PMDR, the livestock program, and the Nahat’á Dziil Commission Governance to stabilize operations. “Some adjustments may be needed to deal appropriately with the real-world conditions that exist after October 1, 2025,” Nygren acknowledged in the letter.
The short-term deal buys time, but the programs still need a long-term funding solution to guarantee their future.
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