Writer

Scott Beckstead

Scott Beckstead is a western small-town kid at heart. He grew up on a small farm in Twin Falls, Idaho, where his family raised cattle. He showed beef steers and dairy heifers at the county fair and competed on the Future Farmers of America livestock judging team. He rode horses and spent a good part of his childhood on horseback, especially in the Sawtooths, where he tracked deer and elk through some of the most punishing terrain in the country. After college and law school in Utah, Beckstead moved to Oregon, where he served as mayor of a small coastal town, and where he now lives in a rural, conservative county heavily dependent on ranching and agriculture. Beckstead teaches classes in wildlife law at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon. He also directs campaigns for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy