The latest custodian of the feral animals abandoned plans to sell them as livestock. That left the federal government without someone to carry out its own plans to remove the estimated 800 animals from Chirikof Island and establish a haven there for indigenous seabirds. Officials say the cattle have battered former bird nesting grounds.

But with new ownership of the cattle in dispute, the herd remains trapped on the 28,000-acre island, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

''The cows are alone again, but they've been that way more often than not,'' said refuge manager Greg Siekaniec.

A long line of adventurers has laid claim to the descendants of the animals first brought to the treeless island in the late 1800s as a meat stock for whaling ship crews and a blue fox industry established by Russian fur traders along the Aleutian Islands to the west.

Over the years, enterprising ranchers have introduced a variety of beef and dairy breeds, including Angus, Herefords, shorthorns, Guernseys and Scottish Highlands. The result: a unique hybrid well-suited to survive harsh winters on little more than the kelp that washes up on shore.

The last to try a hand with the hardy but notoriously skittish herd was Tim Jacobson, a flannel-clad cowboy who planned to sell the cattle as range-fed beef or superior breeding stock. He envisioned marketing them as disease-free animals with the taste and texture of elk more than beef.

But as always, the challenge was getting them off an island with no natural harbors and submerged reefs in a region dogged by unpredictable winds and harsh weather.

Jacobson did manage to barge out about 40 head of cattle from the island, about 425 miles southwest of Anchorage. But according to a civil lawsuit filed against him, he failed to pay for various services from Kodiak Island 80 miles to the north, such as cattle transport, building fences on the island and supplying supplemental feed. Plaintiffs say he owes them more than $100,000 and 116 head of cattle.

Numerous attempts to reach Jacobson, 41, were unsuccessful.

When he was a no-show at his February trial in Kodiak, a Superior Court judge sided with the eight plaintiffs. With Jacobson still lying low, however, no one expects him to pay up, said Tony Lara, a plaintiff who says he was never paid $24,000 owed for delivering supplies to the island and a failed attempt to transport the cattle on his 96-foot landing craft, the Lazy Bay.

''Lack of preparation on his part was why we did not succeed,'' said Lara, 40, who is now working with some of the plaintiffs to take over the venture. ''The only way I see us getting our money back is if we just go there and get the cows ourselves.''

The Lazy Bay is already rigged for transporting animals and Lara said he's well aware of the treacherous conditions that have kept many from succeeding. He said he would find a better landing spot to get the cattle other than the southwest corner of the island Jacobson had used as his base of operations.

Chris Flickinger, another plaintiff, also wants to recoup his losses, which total more than $39,000, according to the court award. He spent months on Chirikof, helping Jacobson collect driftwood for building corrals and a beachfront chute for channeling the cattle to boats. He also supplied three horses from a ranch he partly owns on Kodiak Island, but has only had one returned.

Flickinger, 36, a fifth-generation cattle rancher from the Rocky Mountains region of Colorado, said he wants to preserve the lineage of the cattle, preferably by relocating them to another remote island. He also thinks some would make excellent beef stock or rodeo bulls.

As far as he's concerned, getting the animals off Chirikof is completely attainable, given his cattle experience and Lara's navigational savvy.

But there's still the sticky matter of ownership to resolve before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the 3.5 million-acre refuge, will issue a permit authorizing anyone else to remove the cattle from the island.

When Jacobson's permit lapsed, officials were left to unravel a legal tangle between the previous permit holders and former partners he brought in near the end of his involvement, according to refuge manager Siekaniec. Adding another complication, one of the partners died earlier this year.

And the last time Siekaniec spoke with Jacobson a couple months ago, Jacobson said he believes he still owns the animals. Now Lara and his would-be partners are lobbying for the job.

Despite the murky circumstances, the government will not be dissuaded from pursuing its goal, Siekaniec said. The cattle are no longer welcome on Chirikof.

''I have every intention of staying the course,'' Siekaniec said. ''We just need to figure out who we're dealing with.''

Utah's island herd

l Roundup time near: Antelope Island, the Great Salt Lake's largest, is home to a world-renowned bison herd. The herd, introduced to the island in 1893 and now numbering some 600 animals, is managed by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. During the annual bison roundup in late October or early November, visitors can get a close-up look at the bison and the techniques used on a working buffalo ranch. For information, call 801-773-2941.