SENATE RESOLUTION

                             8737

By Senators Rasmussen, Honeyford, Parlette, Hochstatter, Sheahan and Roach

     WHEREAS, the beef cattle industry has been with us since the earliest territorial days when settlers had to raise their own food to survive; and

     WHEREAS, many of those in the beef industry today are carrying on a more than a century old tradition begun by their pioneer relatives in all thirty-nine counties of the state; and

     WHEREAS, Those who raise beef cattle have a rich heritage of stewardship of the land and of animals in their care, because cattle ranching is unique among agricultural pursuits in that it maintains and perpetuates natural ecological processes; and

     WHEREAS, One of the results of proper rangeland management is improved habitat for elk, deer, salmon, birds, rodents, and other wildlife; and

     WHEREAS, research funded and implemented by the beef industry in Washington has led to production of genetically superior cattle that are in demand in export as well as domestic markets; and

     WHEREAS, beef cattle and calves were the third largest agricultural commodity in Washington State with a value of more than $560 million in the year 2000; and

     WHEREAS, the production value of beef in 2000 represented a twenty-three percent increase from 1999, for the 10,000 beef operations in Washington containing 1.2 million cattle; and

     WHEREAS, the beef cattle industry is the largest agricultural commodity in the United States, with cattle raised commercially in all fifty states by approximately one million producers; and

     WHEREAS, the value of the approximately ninety-eight million cattle nationwide was $70 billion last year, up $3 billion from the previous year;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the hard work and dedication of the men and women in the beef cattle industry is hereby recognized by the Washington State Senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Washington State Beef Commission and the Washington Cattlemen=s Association.

I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8737,

adopted by the Senate February 5, 2002.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate