Chief Washakie FFA earns state range judging title

For the second year in a row the Chief Washakie FFA has been named the Wyoming FFA State Range Judging Champions.

Five members attended WyRED camp in June with gracious and continued sponsorship by the Washakie County Conservation District, according to FFA Advisor Grace Godfrey. The Wyoming Section, Society for Range Management organizes a four-day, field-based Wyoming Youth Resource Education Days (WyRED) annually with the assistance of local conservation districts to provide education to youth and adults on the natural resources of Wyoming. The camp's location is rotated throughout the state to provide opportunities to learn about a variety of Wyoming's resources and tools available to manage them.

"In this process, we work with local landowners and professionals to provide instruction," Godfrey said. 

WyRED 2024 was hosted at the Pathfinder Ranches outside Alcova. Examples of topics covered throughout the week included plant anatomy, soils, range monitoring, rangeland health, stocking rates/grazing planning, resource assessment, water quality/hydrology, wildlife habitat and management, energy development, reclamation, noxious weeds, and threatened and endangered species.

Godfrey explained that these topics are introduced in a live setting on the landscape with the cooperation of local producers and incorporate known state and federal projects. FFA members and other students work to incorporate multiple topics at each stop and involve the related professionals. Students get hands-on experience with natural resource management and network with local professionals who talk about their careers and future opportunities.  

Team members were Zane Lentsch, the second highest individual in the FFA division; Beckett Tharp, Breanna Draper and Dash Hart. Amillia Crawford participated on the Cheyenne East FFA team and was the third highest individual in the FFA division.