Informative Essay On Sheep Ranchers

Sheep Ranchers: Number One on the West’s Endangered Species List There are three reasons why I chose to write about sheep ranchers, the first being that someday I hope to become one. The second being that ranchers in general are constantly under fire from organizations like PETA and those who advocate for rangeland and wildlife, typically over things that ranchers have no control over. The third being that ranchers are disappearing. Plain and simple. They need advocates and support to help them survive because if they don’t, none of us will. Educating the public and stopping the spread of misinformation is one of the most important things we can do to help these people stay afloat. Idaho’s history with sheep begins in the late 1860’s with

That number has since declined, though the exact total is unknown. The aforementioned sheep population has also declined, from 2.6 million in the 1970’s to just one hundred and eighty thousand as of 2013. So why are these numbers dropping so quickly and so drastically? I sat down and talked to Phil and Harry Soulen of Letha, Idaho to find out. Phil’s father, Harry, started Soulen Livestock Co. in 1929 after purchasing the ranch from another family. He started with ten thousand sheep and two hundred and twenty five cattle. In the summer of 1953, after graduating from the University of Idaho and marrying his late wife, Erlene, Phil moved home to help his father run the ranch. Then, once his son Harry graduated from the same college, he came home and helped Phil. Now, eighty nine years later, the ranch still stands and the Soulen’s still work, but the sheep and the cattle have been reduced to less than five thousand animals combined. Phil says this is due to grazing rights being taken away and foreign meat and wool prices. The Soulen’s are struggling to stay on the map like so many others, so what changes need to be made to help them stick around? Harry says we need to start by bringing back domestic help and reworking rules and regulations and that “...well-informed people realize that rangeland is the lifeline of the rancher.” Phil