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!