Emily McCullar reports on the aftermath of the Smokehouse Creek wildfire in the Texas Panhandle through the stories of rancher Adam Isaacs and his family. The fire destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres, killed thousands of cattle, and caused significant economic losses. This leaves the ranchers in the region facing many challenges, as they must now rebuild their livelihoods amidst existing economic hardships and the looming threat of future wildfires.
Adam and Aubrie desperately hoped to raise their son on the family ranch. They wanted Theo to be the fifth generation to run cattle on the property, if that’s what he wanted for himself. But as the months passed, their optimism wavered. Would they be passing down a family business, a way of life? Or a bunch of expensive, increasingly flammable land and inevitable heartbreak?
It’s never been easy to make a living as a cattle rancher, but it’s become particularly difficult in recent decades. A few generations ago a single family could live off a cow-calf operation with fewer than a hundred cattle. Now you need upward of five hundred to make the numbers work.