No College Students Were Harmed in the Making of this Post

...though you're not alone if this image makes you nervous:

The "before" photo - note the sad face

Saturday, April 16, marked the first annual SRM Office Beautification Day.  Landscaping at the SRM headquarters office in Wheat Ridge, Colorado has fallen into disrepair in recent years.  The paint on the SRM sign was peeling, bushes around the buildings were dead and dying, stepping stones were sunken and crooked, and the "garden" beds were in desperate need of a good mulching.

Getting started...

So, on a beautiful, 70 degree Saturday last week, the Colorado State University and University of Wyoming Range Clubs convened at the SRM office to prune, plant, paint, mulch, and beautify.  In exchange, SRM sponsored a donation to each club, a pizza lunch, and apple turnovers from Executive Vice President Jess Peterson's favorite nearby shop.  Not only did students contribute to the overall beauty of the SRM office, but also had the opportunity to network between clubs and chat over the phone with SRM President, Jack Alexander.

Does anyone else find this a bit precarious?

All shrubs, grasses and forbs that went in to the new landscaping were native to Colorado.  SRM would like to extend a huge 'thank you' to Kristin Oles and the CSU Range Club for donating many of the plants.

EVP Jess Peterson never thought he would
need to purchase sagebrush

The new garden beds now include the following:

• big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
• bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata)
• columbine (Aquilegia L.)
• mountain pepperweed (Lepidium montanum)
• strawberry/scarlet hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus coccineus)
• golden tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria)
• lupine (Lupinus argenteus)
• blackeyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• primrose (Oenothera pallida)
• aspen fleabane (Erigeron speciosus)
• purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)
• mule-ears (Wyethia amplexicaulis)
• prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha)
• broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)
• tanseyleaf tansyaster (Machaeranthera tanacetifolia)
• shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)
• and some Bromus tectorum (just joking!!)

As a result of the Beautification Day, the SRM office has new mulch and edging, all plants are not only alive, but also native to Colorado, and the SRM sign has new paint and looks fantastic.  The day was a huge success, everyone had a good time, and we already have ideas for the next round of projects.

On behalf of the Society for Range Management we would like to thank the CSU and UW range clubs and all 15 students that spent their Saturday helping out at their professional society: Maggie Haseman, Kristin Oles, Baili Foster, Bailey Terry, Kelly Wotkyns, John Wagner, Mandy O'Donnell, Colleen Buck, Sydney Burek, Sarah Griffith, Emily Wotkyns, Haley Lockwood, and Ryder Simeniuk.  And a special thank you to club members Robert Emanuel (CSU) and Katie Schade (UW) for helping to coordinate this event!

Check out the sweet shirts AND smiling faces!

Spring Cleaning: Reminders, Updates, and Events

Greetings SRMers!  Here are a few upcoming events and deadlines relevant to you:

• Applications for the SRM paid summer Internship Program are due this Friday, April 15.  Additional information and application instructions can be found on the SRM employment page.
• It's time to start thinking about the 2012 Annual Meeting in Spokane, Washington!
• Applications for symposia, special sessions, forums, and workshops are due by Saturday, May 7.  Click here for application information and forms.
• Meeting room requests for the 2012 meeting are due by Wednesday, June1.  You must have your request in to the Spokane planning committee for your event to be included in the Annual Meeting program.  Click here for the room request form.
• SRM is now on LinkedIn!  This is a SRM members-only group - sign in or sign up and start getting connected to other SRM members.
• Calling all sections: help us keep the www.rangelands.org website updated and encourage participation in your section events by sending us your summer tour and fall meeting information at your earliest convenience.  Send meeting information to Ann Tanaka and Vicky Trujillo.
• The SRM Board of Directors Washington DC fly-in is scheduled for May 2 - 5, 2011.  Stay tuned for details from their trip.
• Join us for the SRM Action Update Call, this Thursday, April 14 at 11:00am MDT.  This is your opportunity to ask questions and find out the latest in the Society.  This call is open to anyone that would like to join.  Dial: 1-213-416-6650, Access Code: 012010#

In other news, this Saturday, April 16, marks the first ever SRM Office Beautification Day!  We will be hosting the University of Wyoming and Colorado State University range clubs onsite for an office overhaul.  Activities include planting, mulching, and general sprucing of the SRM office, not to mention an excellent opportunity for networking between clubs.  Many thanks to both range clubs for their participation and stay tuned for details and highlights.

Katelyn Schade (UW Range Club) and Robert Emanual (CSU Range Club) met with Jess Peterson and Aleta Rudeen to plan the SRM Office Beautification Day Projects last week

We're not kidding - we have our work cut out for us this weekend!  More before and after photos to come...

Our Juniper Story is Told

Click here to watch this excellent video about western juniper and featuring SRM members Doc and Connie Hatfield, Dr. John Buckhouse, Tim Deboodt, Michael Fisher and Hugh Barrett
 

Guest Post by Hugh Barrett, SRM Pacific Northwest Section 

Following a friend’s communication with Oregon Public Broadcasting inquiring about their interest in doing a program on western juniper in Oregon, I received a call from Vince Patton, Producer of Oregon Field Guide – OPB’s popular weekly outdoor program. He told me that during his trips to eastern Oregon he’d always wondered why “ranchers were cutting all that juniper”. As we talked, Vince seemed increasingly interested in producing a segment for the program.  Subsequently, I sent an email to Vince that contained links to several publications on western juniper and the names and contact information for several scientists, ranchers and others who also are deeply involved in the juniper issue.

During several phone conversations I had with Vince over the next few months, I laid out the story of juniper in the inter-mountain environment. His interest grew as I described the steps and mis-steps leading to the rapid expansion of juniper’s range; its impacts on the sagebrush biome; and, its influence on watershed function and western aridity. On a windy mixed rain-and-snow afternoon about three months after our original phone conversation, we met in Doc and Connie Hatfield’s living room at their High Desert Ranch near Brothers, Oregon. Fortifying ourselves against the cold with bowls of hot chili and warm corn bread, we planned the process for the next two days filming.

That’s how it all came together. I hope the program speaks for itself.

 Click here to watch the video

50 acre juniper control/watershed repair project in Klamath County, Oregon (before treatment)

Project area in 2007 after treatment conducted in 2006.  Broadcast seeding with "Whitmar" bluebunch wheatgrass, antelope bitterbrush, basin wildrye (in swales and drainages) and big sagebrush.  Cut trees were skidded off the hillside (for use as firewood and lumber).  Anticipated hydrologic response: 15 acre feet per year of water retained.