Jefferson County officials say it’s time to consider fencing in livestock along the county’s highways.

Prompted by an accident earlier this month in which several trucks collided with a herd of cattle on Highway 97, the county Board of Commissioners is set to discuss reducing the amount of open rangeland in the county.

The board, which designates which land is open-range, will discuss the issue at 10:30 a.m. today.

Following the bloody accident, the county must weigh the needs of ranchers, who use open range to graze their livestock, and the safety of drivers who are required to yield to livestock in open-range areas, said Commissioner Wayne Fording.

Just before midnight Sept. 6, five trucks collided with the herd about 12 miles north of Madras, killing 44 head and closing the highway for several hours. Others had to be put down later. Two trucks had to be towed. No injuries were reported.

The R2 Ranch, which owns the herd, maintains fences around its property, ranch President Patrick Evenson said in an email.

With fences in place, it’s unclear how the cattle strayed onto the highway, said Amy Paterson, vice president of Lane PR, a public relations firm representing the ranch.

Most of the county, except the populated areas around Madras, Culver, Metolius and Crooked River Ranch, is designated open range. In open range land, ranchers don’t have to fence in their livestock, and motorists, not livestock owners, are liable when animals are involved in collisions.

Fording said the county likely won’t make a decision on reducing open range today, but will look to take input from transportation officials and ranchers.

The Oregon Department of Transportation does not have an official stance on what areas should be designated open range, said ODOT spokesman Peter Murphy.

But ODOT officials will be at the meeting to inform the county about the safety concerns on that stretch of open range on Highway 97, Murphy said.

There have been roughly 100 collisions with livestock in the past decade in the area north of Madras, he said.

“It’s a safety issue,” Murphy said. “If this were collisions of cars we would be taking a harder look at what to do to make it safer and make some changes.”

Commissioner John Hatfield said he thinks cattle probably should be fenced in along the highway to prevent collisions, but he wants to hear from stakeholders before making a decision.

“Obviously ODOT will be rooting for changing (open range designations) and ranchers will be rooting against changing it,” he said.

Fording said he is hesitant to reduce the amount of open range land in the county if will put an added burden on ranchers.

“We’re an ag-based community and the last thing I want to do is shut down the production of these producers in any way, shape or form unless it really needs to be done,” he said.