I’m Emily Ehrke, and I recently graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where I majored in Agricultural Science and double minored in Agricultural Business and Water Policy. I grew up in Arbuckle, CA around the ranching industry. Naturally during my four years at Cal Poly, I spent a lot of time immersing myself in the beef program, which included serving as both the SLO Young Cattlemen’s Association President and the Cal Poly Bull Test and Sale Event Planning Coordinator. These experiences inspired me to continue to explore more career paths within the cattle industry post-graduation, which ultimately landed me here at the California Rangeland Trust for a six-month general internship.
Funded by the Grand National Rodeo Foundation, this internship is uniquely designed to give interns experience working in each of the five departments at the Rangeland Trust, including: conservation and stewardship, programs, communications, fund development, and finance. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the cattle industry, but I still was not sure exactly which direction I wanted to take. Thus, this internship opportunity was particularly appealing.
Since beginning my internship over the summer, I have gotten a taste of almost every arm of the organization. I kicked off the summer working with the conservation and stewardship team. I attended multiple site visits on ranches to meet with prospective landowner partners, review their conservation easement applications, and learn about the unique characteristics of each individual ranch.
From there, I was able to see the beginning of the conservation easement process—from completing the project applications to finding potential funding sources to presenting new applications to the Rangeland Trust Conservation Committee. I also attended multiple monitoring visits which are designed to help the organization meet its perpetual responsibility of ensuring the terms of the conservation easements are upheld. I witnessed how these visits are vital to maintaining good working relationships between the Rangeland Trust and its valued ranching partners.
Following my time with the conservation and stewardship department, I provided support to the programs department. I helped organize resources and funding opportunities available to ranchers. I also researched the benefits of grazing and formulated those benefits into succinct messages that can be used on future projects. Additionally, I brainstormed new ideas to include in the bimonthly landowner e-newsletter. While still in its infancy, I witnessed how the programs department is already providing significant value to the Rangeland Trust’s ranching partners. As the organization likes to say, conserving the land is only the first part of fulfilling its mission; ensuring the land has a healthy and sustainable future is just as critical.
As I write this article, I am currently wrapping up my stint in the communications department. Working with the communications team has given me the opportunity to help demonstrate to a broad audience the essential role that ranchers play in stewarding California’s working landscapes that benefit all of us. Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to interview ranchers and write articles about their families, their experiences, and why they made the visionary decision to conserve their ranches. Additionally, I worked with the team to help produce podcast episodes to spotlight rangeland enthusiasts that have a connection to working lands in both direct and indirect ways. All in all, I feel fortunate to have played a small role in helping to share these impactful stories of stewardship, resilience, and hope, while also showcasing the importance of rangeland conservation to our social, cultural, economic, and environmental well-being.
Reflecting on my time here thus far, I have really enjoyed learning about each aspect of this incredible organization. It has been very rewarding seeing the process of starting a conservation easement, to then providing support and technical assistance to those landowners, to then telling their ranching stories. I have greatly appreciated the time everyone has put into facilitating this opportunity for me to learn and grow.
The last few months here have been truly eye-opening. Growing up in the cattle industry, I have always been aware of the many challenges that ranchers face. But now, I have a deeper understanding of the effects of urban sprawl, overregulation, extreme weather, etc. on the livelihoods of California ranchers and the productive, working lands they care for. Running a multi-generational ranch is not an easy thing to do, and seeing the efforts that the California Rangeland Trust puts into helping to protect these ranches for the future sustainability of the industry is amazing. Since California is the fourth largest cattle producing state in the nation, it is important to support the land and the families that feed and sustain us. It’s been an honor to help do that throughout my time here.
I would like to give a big ‘Thank You’ to the Grand National Rodeo Foundation for sponsoring this opportunity for me. This has been such a great experience. I am so glad I have been given the chance to be a member of the Rangeland Trust team!
California Rangeland Trust is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 31-1631453) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
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