dear Senator Boozman...

Recently I had the opportunity to write a letter to the politian of my choice on an environmental topic for a general education course. I obviously, choose to focus on agriculture. It was hard to narrow down what issue seemed most prevalent. I finally settled on wildfires in the West. This has been a hot topic (literally, lol) throughout the Western states. So many have been effected by fires and too many livestock have been lost to them. In my letter, I decided to go for personable rather than accusatory. No one responds well to anger. It is vital to for us to come together as agriculturalists on topics such as these.

Honestly, I wanted to share this letter here on the blog for myself more than anything. I wanted to be able to look back at it and see where I could improve in my writing.

So, here it is:

Hello Senator Boozman,

My name is Saydee Longhurst, a sophomore at Utah State University. I am studying Agricultural Education and Entrepreneurship. I appreciate you taking the time to read my letter as well as for your service to the agricultural industry.

In this letter, I hope to address the environmental impacts cattle grazing has on wildfire prevention in the Western United States. I grew up in Eastern Idaho on a first-generation family farm. That lifestyle has allowed me to develop a deep passion for the ag industry. This past year I have followed the major wildfires happening in the state of California. It was devastating to see so many cattle ranchers losing livestock to the fires. I spent a lot of time reading articles and news reports on social media. It was interesting to hear the views of so many affected. The main theme that seemed prevalent through all of the stories was ‘graze it or watch burn’. Folks were referring to the land within California that was burned. I have heard of controlled grazing but had not taken the time to research on what all it entailed. Cattle can play a key role in removing fine fuels. Livestock grazing can reduce the standing crop of perennial and annual grasses to levels that reduce fuel loads. This is important as ranchers have a desire to be good stewards of the land. There has been controversy in the news that overgrazing of land can result in wildfires. According to the research I have done that responsible grazing is in fact, beneficial to the land. Quite honestly, this just makes sense to me. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up on the farm so I understand the importance of caring for the soil in each field to produce maximum yields. Each spring we work with our agronomist to test the soil to see which nutrients need to added in order to amend the soil based on what we decide to grow. Each crop requires different care. I believe this same principle holds true when discussing cattle grazing on land in California and beyond. Farmers and ranchers want to care for the land they are working with to ensure they have a job in the next season. If responsible grazing could be utilized within areas of high-risk fires, I know it would be beneficial.

As a concerned citizen and current resident of the Western United States, I am asking you to consider writing some sort of legislation that will benefit ranchers in the West to manage grazing lands. Just the like the saying I stated earlier, ‘graze it or watch it burn’. Please keep this in mind as you move forward with policies in the future.

Thank you for your time,

Saydee Longhurst

As always thank you for reading.

*tips ball cap from the tractor seat*