Chico Basin Ranch Visit

By Maggie Haseman, Outreach Intern

Photo by: Maggie Haseman
Chico Basin Ranch Headquarters

Chico Basin Ranch is a working cattle ranch located 35 miles southeast of Colorado Springs. It is 87,000 acres of rangeland owned by the Colorado State Land Board and managed by Duke and Janet Phillips and their family. As part of my internship program with SRM, I spent two full days on the ranch helping out and learning about their operation. I went to Chico Basin Ranch not knowing what to expect and found myself having a very memorable and worthwhile experience. I have always considered myself to be a city girl and I had never even been to a ranch or thought of going to a ranch before the Phillips kindly allowed me to visit theirs. My two full days and two nights on the ranch were packed full with new learning experiences, a few minor bumps in the road, and a new found appreciation for what it means to work a ranch.

When I arrived at the headquarters on July 18th at about 5:30pm, I was greeted by three young women: two interns, Lesley and Kerstin, and the youngest child of Duke and Janet, Gracie. I was then sent in to meet Young Duke, Duke and Janet’s son. He sent me to May Camp, the home he shares with Cooper Hibbard and guests when they come, saying, “It’s very easy to find.” 


Photo by: Maggie Haseman
View of the Ranch Near May Camp



The roads are dirt and they veer off in every direction, luckily May Camp was easy to get to once you’ve already arrived. On the way, I distinctly remember thinking, “I’m lost, I’m lost, I’m lost!” and suddenly the house appeared. The house was very cute and cozy, with blue cabinets in the kitchen and thankfully, running water and electricity. They had made up a bed for me in a room off the dining room and I tried to get settled in. Around six, Cooper came in and introduced himself. We talked and got to know each other a little while he fixed dinner (beans, corn on the cob, and skillet veggies, yum!) After that I just busied myself with reading before bed time. Boy was it hot in that house!

The next day I woke up at 5:50am. Cooper took me around the ranch, to fix things and help me get used to the new setting, and he taught me a lot that day. Like I said, my ranch knowledge bucket was empty before I arrived, I learned a lot but I know my short adventure was not enough to fill it, not even close, there is so much to know. The first thing I learned was that there is something tricky you have to figure out about all vehicles you drive around the ranch, the one we were using didn’t open from the inside, another one didn’t have a windshield or doors, and a third you have to pull the door up and then close it or it will open while you drive.

After we had the truck loaded we drove for ages. 

Photo by: Maggie Haseman
View of the Ranch and Mountains

We had to check water tanks because there was something wrong with the system that Cooper had been working to fix the day before. Luckily, he succeeded, which meant it wasn’t a leak we had to find. I was shocked to find a drowned salamander and frog in one tank and tadpoles in another, it was so dry there, these critters just seemed out of place. We then went to a drained water tank to fix some holes with cement. It was only 9:00am or so and it was already hot, hot, hot! At another tank, we had to pump it dry so that Cooper could replace the water valve. It was so stinky and when Cooper asked me to get in the tank with that gooey greenish-black gunk I was very apprehensive; it turned out to not be that bad. The valve was so stuck we couldn’t get it to budge so Cooper resolved to leave it until he had some better tools.

Along the way, I was learning how to open and close fences. It seems like that should be an easy task that wouldn’t really take much to learn, but I kept closing the gate with Cooper and the truck on the right side and me stuck on the wrong side. I got a GIANT splinter from one gate and shocked by another, and my goodness did I let out a shriek at that shock. I then learned how to fix a fence and drive a fence post. Later, we drove along the fence to find where the charge was grounded; meaning the electricity of the fence wasn’t shocking at full power. We finally found it, fixed it and headed back to headquarters.


Photo by: Duke Phillips
Pikes Peak behind May Pond



I then met the third Intern, Raphael. Kerstin, Raphael and I ventured to the lake to cool down and play with some puppies (there were so many puppies, four from one mom and about seven from another). I longed to go swimming to cool down but I forgot to follow my mom’s number one packing rule: always bring a swim suit; it was probably for the best though because I would have psyched myself out by the teeny leeches I saw. It was fun to relax in the setting sun and cool my feet in the water. After a while, Cooper and I headed back to May Camp for dinner and bed.

On Wednesday I woke up at 4:00am. Cooper told me we were wrangling cattle and I was supposed to ride a horse but I kept thinking it was a joke. I had not ridden a horse since a birthday party in elementary school and what help would I be gathering cattle? But, it wasn’t a joke, and next thing I knew I stood facing Cricket the horse while she looked disapprovingly down her long nose at me. You have to learn fast once you’re on a horse: sit up straight, don’t be a sack of potatoes, hold the reins here, connect with her, trust her. Cricket had a lot of energy and spunk, and I’m pretty sure she thought she knew what to do better than I did, which is true. Duke sent Gracie, Kate, their guest from Portland, Oregon, and me off in another direction, he and about eight or nine other riders went somewhere else. So Gracie, Kate and I trotted along a fence and found a small herd of cattle coming toward us. We gathered them and followed/herded them toward a central water tank where we were meeting the others. I think they kept saying we were herding 1,500 head but to me it looked like zillions. The noise, the dust, the sun, I will never forget the way it looked. I felt transported to a different time and it was wonderful.

Photo by: Cooper Hibbard
The Dukes, Father and Son

Once the cattle were gathered we started moving them back toward headquarters. Duke showed me how to keep the line moving and we made our steady way into the corrals. In the corrals the cattle were a little scary and there was one point when I thought they were going to stampede over me, though it probably wasn’t as dangerous as it felt. Regardless, I was happy to sit to the side and watch at Duke’s instruction. As I dismounted my foot got stuck in the stirrup and down I went: aside from my bruised ego I was not injured.

Photo by: Michael Moon
Cattle Train

It was so interesting to see the professionals at work herding cattle. From what I understood they were sorting cattle by size to ship. They had so much control over the situation; it was impressive to watch, and cows are just about the funniest animals I’ve ever seen – I wish I had space to write about all the funny things I saw them do while in the corrals.

Photo by: Jonathan Tullar
Bell Park Event Center

After lunch Kerstin and I were sent down to Bell Park, the stage area. Chico Basin has been hosting concerts in the summer since the summer of 2010 and they are hoping to make it an annual event. Our task was to clean up the area for the concert on the 23rd of July. I have never done such hard work in the hot sun as I did that afternoon, but I have also never felt so rewarded by the results as I did that afternoon, when Bell Park looked much cleaner.

On Wednesday evening it was time for me to say goodbye to all the people who were so welcoming and patient with me. My stay at Chico Basin Ranch taught me about the value of a day of hard work, flexibility in new and sometimes uncomfortable situations, and the beauty of the ranching profession.

I would like to send a big thank you to all the people I met at Chico Basin Ranch during my short visit. It was an experience that I cannot compare to any other and that I will never forget.

Photo by: Maggie Haseman
Hello/Goodbye Cowboy sculpture

New Mexico Summer Tour

By Les Owen, New Mexico Section

The New Mexico Section of the Society for Range Management held its Summer Tour on July 22, 2011 at the NMSU Corona Range and Livestock Research Center. Ranch Superintendent, Shad Cox, started the day off with an overview of operations on the 42 section ranch located in central New Mexico. The CRLRC is a unique research facility in that research and ranch operations are funded by commercial livestock production (cattle and sheep) and hunting opportunities on the ranch. A large collection of research literature is available on the CRLRC website.

The first stop was in a pasture where juniper was mechanically controlled in the late 1970s. Dr. Andrés Cibils is leading a research project using very large scale aerial photography and specialized software to analyze re-invading juniper sapling density effects on grass production. Preliminary data indicate that when sapling size reaches 1 meter cover, grass production decreases significantly.

Stop 2 was in a pasture where roughly half was open grassland and half juniper woodland. GPS collars were fitted on cattle and mule deer to determine habitat preference for each species based on tree densities, time of year, and climatic conditions. Data show that both mule deer and cattle start to avoid woodland areas when canopy cover exceeds 40%.

The third site was an area where an intensive targeted grazing study was conducted using goats and sheep to control juniper saplings. Results only indicated a 5% kill on saplings, with most controlled individuals being smaller in size. The majority of the saplings were too large and established for the targeted grazing to be highly effective. Targeted grazing can be an effective tool for managing juniper saplings that are small and could be a good complementary tool with other control mechanisms.

Just before lunch we visited a half section pasture where re-invading juniper was controlled using individual plant treatments of Velpar. Around 95% control was achieved for close to $9.50 per acre application cost. The CRLRC employed the services of the NMSU Range Club to apply the treatment which resulted in good experience for the students and an effective control for the CRLRC. Tour Sponsor and DuPont Representative, Jack Lyons, provided information about placement of soil application of Velpar in relation to the edge of the juniper drip line.

Lunch was served at the almost completed Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability located near the center of the ranch. Shad Cox provided a tour of the new facility which will serve as a centrally located venue in New Mexico for educational programs related to agriculture. The facility houses a classroom, conference room, offices, and a commercial kitchen. Look forward to hearing of many more great programs being hosted at this facility.

After lunch we moved on to a site where individual juniper plants in plots received either a foliar application of Surmount or tree drip line application of Tordon. Tour Sponsor and Dow Representative, Greg Alpers, provided information about the applications and emerging technology using electrostatically charged herbicide to vastly improve efficacy of aerial treatments. Trials have been conducted on mesquite and cholla with promising results.

Next a research project using VLSA photography to estimate juniper biomass for use as a biofuel was visited. After the photography was acquired, each juniper was individually harvested, mulched and weighed to calibrate the estimation tool. This was done on two separate plots where about 50 tons of biomass was harvested. Researchers are able to use data from this project to accurately estimate standing juniper biomass using VLSA photography. Note in the picture background a strange phenomenon having to do with darkening skies that has been rumored to happen in the past around New Mexico.

Our 7th stop of the day was a hydrology study in juniper woodlands where soil moisture sensors were placed in replicated plots where Spike had been used to control juniper and control plots. Data showed a 3 fold increase in grass production in treated plots, but due to the low average rainfall neither control or treated plot soil sensors indicated moisture penetration that would lead to aquifer recharge.

Our final stop of the day was to a study where Spike was used to control juniper in the mid 1990s and Rx fire was used as a follow up treatment in 2003 to control emerging saplings. Differences in forage production between the pasture where the Spike treatment was followed with Rx fire and that without fire was significant. Sapling emergence in the non-burned pasture caused a decrease in grass production.

The NMSRM Summer Tour had a great tour and we are very appreciative to NMSU and the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center for hosting the event. We also would like to thank our tour sponsors: Dow, DuPont, and NorthStar Helicopters.

Ethnobotany: An interesting perspective on range management, at a bombing range.

By: J. Johansen, SRM Student Member

Ethnobotany: the study of how a culture uses plants. But, who cares about plants anyway? Let alone knows their names, their relationships to each other and other living things? Aren’t all those cultures dead? I find it interesting that the American sub-culture of the range manager may be one of the few who still speak the language of plants.


Range Manager, or Plant Magician?

 On this year’s Pacific Northwest Summer Tour we got a real treat, a trip through the Yakima Training Center, the US Army’s live-fire training grounds. Our gracious host shared with us his job of keeping the soil on the ground, in spite of tanks, artillery, and fires. He guided us through test plots of grasses and shrubs planted in the late 90’s, describing how each had faired over time, and how well they stood up to the abuse of army vehicles driving over them. The test plots were really interesting, in that it could be seen what plants had failed completely, what plants wandered out of their row, what plants grew larger at the edge of their plot to try and outcompete it’s neighbor, and just the chance to work on identification. The YTC’s Botanist consultant set me strait that the “two” grasses I had were in fact the same, one just had a fungal infection (don’t worry, cheatgrass!). Also, in another area towards the end of our YTC tour, we looked at a test plot from 1961.

SRMer's speak the language of plants

Land destroyed by wildfire!

In this area we looked at the after effects of a wildfire and sage seedlings that had been planted last fall. The grasses and massive amounts of lupines in this photo and all throughout the burn area had come back on there own, without seeding. The sage seedlings were planted because a large portion of the burn was within a Sage Grouse protection area (yes, on a bombing range) and they wanted the sagebrush to return.

Intact sagebrush system with previously burned hill behind

We also visited sites outside the YTC grazed by the Martinez family’s bands of sheep. One of the Principals of the largest sheep operation in the state of Washington, Mark Martinez was generous to take time out of his day, show us several sites and discus the ins and outs of running seven bands of about 7,500 sheep total.

*** J. Johansen will be attending OSU’s Range program at Eastern Oregon University for his junior year this fall, is working as a NRCS student intern, and has no credibility whatsoever. You can take a peek at what he does in his spare time at http://www.rideherd.com.

International Rangeland Congress and Tours, Argentina

Guest Post by Joe Wagner, PNW Section of SRM

South Patagonia PreCongress Tour

El Calafate Moreno Glacier

The Pre-Congress Technical Tour started in El Calafate (State of Santa Cruz), where we spent two days.  El Calafate is located on the largest lake in Argentina.  This is a glacial lake and the Moreno Glacier is at the head of the lake.  The Moreno Glacier face is 300 feet high and it was calving at the late summer date we visited.  This glacier is part of the third largest ice field in the world – only behind Antartica & Greenland.

The 1st thing I noticed riding in from the airport was a roadside fence line contrast.  There was a lot of what I thought was a grey shrub and very little in the surrounding pastures.  This area was heavily sheeped in the past.  Checked with the tour guide and found out what I thought was a shrub was a large bushy Senecio.  The two main grasses were Fescue and Stipa.

Third Day we traveled by bus to Rio Gallegos to catch a flight to Tierra del Fuego area.  We visited an area at the east end of Lake Argentino, where grazing/wood cutting exposed the silty/sandy glacial soils to wind erosion.  They planted Elymus and shrubs to hold the soils in place.  It is still grazed to some extent.  We also observed heavy grazing and light grazing on a riparian/wetland areas (mallines = meadows where water is near the surface).  We visited a sheep Experimental area, where they were testing different grazing systems.  I learned about ground shrubs that the sheep use.  I casually looked at the plant they were talking about and initially thought it was a healthy cryptogam, however it did have a woody stem to it.  Inside the exclosure it was about 5/6 inches high after 5 years of rest.

Ushuaia Tierra del Fuego

We landed in Ushuaia that calls itself “City at the end of the world”, approximately 69 degrees south.  Of the Equator.  City is located on the Beagle Channel, where Charles Darwin spent time.  Historically, the Native Americans did not wear clothes; only seal skin capes (brrr!!).  The women were responsible for collecting mollusks.  They smeared seal fat on their bodies to insulate against the frigid waters.  The biggest resource problem I saw in Tierra del Fuego Park involved beaver.  They were introduced in 1943 to enhance the fur trade.  The fur trade fizzled and now they are running wild with no natural predators.  They are doing a job on standing trees as well as flooding out trees in the bottom lands.  Great Sea food in Ushuaia.

Rosario International Rangeland Congress

Rosario is a city of under one million people, in the State of Santa Fe.  It is a very clean city.  There are several stray dogs per block that laze about and help keep the food items out of the gutters.  The dogs don’t belong to anybody, but are fed, watered and tolerated by folks.  The only time I saw folks harass the dogs was when shop keepers shooed them out of the entrance to stores, when they flopped down.  It was amazing to see so many nice condition Ford Falcons from the 1960s driving around.  The Parana River flows through Rosario and fish dinners were great.

The IRC had about 500 people in attendance from 40 to 50 countries.  There were close to 700 papers/posters, 3 pre-congress tours and 3 mid-congress tours.  Proceedings will soon be available on the IRC website at http://www.rangelandcongress.com/ and available at catrina.batello@fao.org at no cost.  The next Congress will be in India in 2015.  I went on the Parana River Island mid-congress tour.  The river was in a low flood stage and most of the cattle had already been ferried across the river to areas west of Rosario.  However, it was interesting to see cows and calves swimming and some cows swimming and grazing at the same time.  I asked about caimans bothering the cattle (local ones are smaller than those in Amazon Basin) – wild pigs are more of a threat to calves.  The ranchers burn their lands by themselves every Fall, so they can find the cattle as the vegetation gets pretty thick and high otherwise.  The Poster I found the most interesting was from Israel, using goats to create fire breaks around forested areas.  I asked about the bad fire in their forest last summer and he said the crown fire dropped to the ground when it hit the goat grazed area. 

Iguazu Waterfalls Bariloche.

I made two trips after the congress.  Iguazu Waterfalls (state of Misiones) are way up north on the Brazil Argentina border.  One of the falls is horse shoe shaped at the head of a large canyon called the “Devils Throat.”  There are several falls on the Brazilian side and a long series of falls on the Argentina side.  This waterfall was as spectacular as Niagra Falls and Victoria Falls and the geology of the long canyon and rim made this a huge area.

The next trip was to Bariloche (State of Rio Negro) about midway in the country, but on the west side near the Andes mountain range.  The area was settled by Swiss and German pioneers. The architecture with the Andes backdrop made one feel that they might have been in the Alps.  Cathederal Hill is probably the only major ski area in South America.  The rainfall in Bariloche was 1,000 millimeters near the mountains and going 35 km east and it drops to 500 mm and continues drop to about 250 mm as you go east until the Atlantic Ocean influence raises the rainfall.  I was able to visit the San Ramon Estancia (Ranch) in the 500 mm zone and there were many conifers growing, all introduced from Europe, Australia and North America.  The Ranch produced cattle that grazed the meadows and sheep that grazed the upland steppe.  The ranch was 250,000 hectares in size.  The entire ranch and buildings were burned in a wildfire in 1996 and the manager said vegetation was still recovering in certain areas.  I thought I was standing in grass in a rest pasture, but was I wrong.  It was a Stipa that came half way up my calf and neither cattle nor sheep will graze it.  The trees that they were selectively logging had ½ to ¾ inch growth rings present from about 40 year old trees.  The introduced Red Deer grow some tremendous racks 2 ½ to3 feet wide with 16 points on some.

Beautiful, unpalatable stipa

 Argentina has the highest per capita meat consumption in the world – 75 kg/person.  We ate well and a high protein diet it was great!!

Range Camp Rocks

Spring is finally upon us.  For students, the melting of winter signifies that it is time to start thinking about summer break and how you will spend your time.  What could you possibly do to maximize both fun and professional development simultaneously?  For those high school students interested in rangelands, the answer is easy: attend range camp.  Visit your local SRM section website and contact the officers to find out what opportunities are in your area.  Below is an article by Terilyn Chen outlining exactly why Range Camp Rocks.

Range Camp Rocks
September 11, 2010 Posted in: Opinion
By: Terilyn Chen


This summer I vaccinated a sheep. With help, of course.

I learned to do that, among other things, at the 26th annual California-Pacific Range and Natural Resources Camp. I attended camp from June 20 to June 25 with Hercules High School senior Nicole Ng, and other students from all over California. Founded by Mike Stroud in 1985, Cal-Pac Range Camp is an annual environmental science camp held on the beautiful Elkus Ranch in Half Moon Bay.

Ng and I were among the few campers who had absolutely no experience working with livestock and ranches. Herculean culture is entirely different; I doubt many people know what FFA is and we do not have a farm. I am embarrassed to admit, but before camp, I thought everything related to hardcore agriculture and livestock was for Texans and Montanans. Somewhere in my head, I obviously knew California is a big farming state, but I just never thought there would be a camp that taught about livestock so close to home. Needless to say, the experience was an eye-opener.

At camp, we were constantly busy. Never in my life had I felt so accomplished when the day was over as I did during those four days. Every single minute was well spent, whether I was learning how to tell the difference between yarrow and poison hemlock, searching for fly larvae underneath the rocks in Purisima creek or talking about boys with a couple of buddies while walking across camp to take a shower. We even spent half a day in bright yellow hard hats, walking around Purisima Creek Redwood Forest with a forester who showed us how he decides what trees to cut, and why.

By the end of the first day, I was falling in love with range camp and everything I never knew California possessed.

The world that had previously seemed to me full of ubiquitous settling and compromising had something tangible to offer me: real examples of people simply unable to contain their passion.

The camp coordinator Marc Horney, the botanists, soil scientists, fire ecologists, entomology connoisseurs- every single one of our instructors and advisors were obviously in love with what they did. Their bubbling excitement was intoxicating, as was the magical environment they had chosen to use as their classrooms, because really, velvet grass makes such an impression.

I felt so complete when the sun was disappearing behind the hills. Several times, I wanted to cry because camp made it seem like there was a reason for everything. Since then, I have believed in the goodness of people again. Or rather, I believe in my own strength; it was as if camp made me realize that I can make a difference. Suddenly, beating global warming and climate change seemed possible.  After all, there were people out there running camps about environmental science.

The night before our last day at camp, I knew that I would soon mentally go over every memory and physically touch every plant I could get my hands on, in a crude attempt to hold on to Range Camp.  The next day, when I actually left Elkus Ranch, and my family drove away with me on the freeway, I felt traumatized, as if my senses were not yet adjusted to the loudness, the hardness and the greyness of the world. For the next few days, I felt lost in suburbia. I was lost in the uniformity and the cleanliness.  Over the course of the summer, I would dream about Range Camp for a total of seven times.

Later, walking around Hercules, I actually found flowers and grasses that I could identify. I realized that there is no reason to be sad because I had taken so much from Range Camp. So thank you, Kent Reeves and the Yolo County Resource Conservation District for sponsoring me, and thank you both Michael Hudson and Nicole Ng for introducing me to Range Camp.

Range Camp has enlightened me. It has changed me. It has permanently made me a “happy camper.”

SRM Spotlight: Dan Macon, California-Pacific Section

By Julia Workman, SRM Outreach Intern

“Since I’ve started ranching, I haven’t had as much time to volunteer with SRM,” admits Dan Macon, past president of the California-Pacific Section and current owner of Flying Mule Farm in the foothills northeast of Sacramento. There, in Placer and Nevada counties, they raise mostly sheep, and market grass-fed lamb and beef to restaurants and other consumers. Before the farm was founded in 2001, Dan had a variety of careers, starting with an Agricultural and Managerial Economics degree at the University of California-Davis. After graduation, he worked with the California Cattleman’s Association on federal land policy, endangered species concerns, and range management issues. He also helped start—and served as the first executive director of—the California Rangeland Trust (CRT). After that, he worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and then a local land trust.

Dan enjoys reading and camping and is very interested in wildlife. Fly-fishing is another favorite activity when he has the time. Despite the relative inactivity he claims now, he has also been quite involved in SRM since he joined fifteen years ago. Besides serving on the California-Pacific Section board and as the Range Excellence Committee Chair, he has served as Section President in 2001 and received the Ranch Manager of the Year award.

Professional development was Dan’s reason for joining SRM: the Society gave him a chance to gain some technical knowledge of rangeland management since he did not have much background in the field. He says he liked—and likes—that SRM brings together the science and art involved in managing rangelands, and that SRM is the only professional group to bring an ecosystem approach to range management. Looking back, he says that the education he has received through SRM has been very valuable in his career, along with the opportunity to make connections with other professionals. Another strength of the Society, he says, is its ability to make available information to make ranching operations more sustainable and economically viable.

Dan says he was at the forefront of a demographic change among students interested in rangeland management. When he was a student, the profession was beginning to see a shift away from those with agricultural backgrounds—a change which is evident in SRM membership. Dan says that this movement has given range managers a great opportunity to collaborate with other professions and will make the profession stronger in the long run: “diversity is a good thing” when it provides a group with more perspectives and backgrounds.

According to Dan, it is important to bring new and experienced members together. He says that meaningful involvement for young members consists of more than speaking contests, and that direct, hands-on experience with professionals is vital for the professional development of members early in their career. It also provides an opportunity for both young and old to learn from each other. He would like to see more recent college graduates taking on internships on farms and ranches, and SRM continuing to take a bigger role in that: “Opportunities go beyond programs at universities. The professional knowledge is very important.”

Natural resources- and agriculture-related professions, Dan says, will continue to undergo a profound change as interest in local food production for national security increases. He believes that rangeland management is following the same trends as agriculture in that the interest in both has skipped a generation or two, but a new generation is now receptive to SRM’s approach to rangeland management; SRM just needs to reach them. He sees a bit of a struggle in the Society as perceptions of rangelands shift, and believes that SRM will best attract new members in the future by staying relevant. Efforts to broaden outreach to the upcoming generation, while providing professional development opportunities relevant to the public, ranchers, and communities, will be important in achieving this goal.

Dan’s great hope for SRM is that it continues to diversify its membership along a spectrum of ages and backgrounds. He would like to see it recognized as a place for scientific debates and a safe environment for discussions between ranchers and environmental groups.

He also hopes that younger members will get involved by attending section and parent society meetings—but “not going and passively participating: getting involved!” The field tours, he says, are critical and counsels that younger members should seek out more experienced members at these events to get help, information, and mentorship. He concludes with a lesson he has learned from his own diverse background: “Find a way to do what you love!”

Colorado Section Meeting

By Julia Workman, SRM Outreach Intern

I recently received a heartfelt Colorado welcome during my first trip to the Western Slope portion of the state for the Colorado Section SRM’s Winter Meeting in Grand Junction. Held jointly with the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Habitat Partnership Program (HPP) on November 30-December 2, this event was a great opportunity to meet many of the active members from another section.

The same section that organized a great international Annual Meeting last February didn’t disappoint this winter. The organizers pulled a great set of speakers together to support their theme, Wildlife Habitat Management.

Officer installation occurred at the business meeting early Wednesday morning, as well as updates on this involved section’s various happenings, the Billings meeting latest, and outreach news. After Director of Outreach and Leadership Development Aleta Rudeen brought members up-to-date on the current changes in SRM, I gave a talk on what I have learned throughout the course of my Outreach Internship position with SRM and the interviews I have conducted as part of that program. Stay tuned later this month for a summary blog post focusing on my internship experience and what I have learned from talking with SRM members this semester.

After the business meeting, CSSRM and HPP reconvened together for the day’s symposia. Talks during the meeting covered a broad range of topics, from defining habitat to the effects of pine beetles on Colorado’s forests, and from riparian area habitat management to the effects of CRP on wildlife habitat.

One of my favorite talks was “The Wisdom Body: Nutrition, Health, and Nature’s Pharmacoepia.” Dr. Fred Provenza focused on the ways that animals—and people, too—learn to eat various foods based on their culture and the primary and secondary compounds found in them. It was an interesting and unique talk in defense of his assertion that natural landscapes serve as nutrition centers and pharmacies for both herbivores and those who eat them.

Another great talk, "Ranching for Wildlife, or What's Good for Livestock is Good for Wildlife" was given by rancher Kelley Bater. In it, he focused on the livestock improvements he has made on his own ranch and how developing for livestock helps wildlife, as well. It was an interesting perspective on an important topic!

The award presentations at the Wednesday night banquet recognized some outstanding people such as the recipients of the Excellence in Rangeland Conservation award, the LeValley family of Hotchkiss. See some of the management practices being implemented on LeValley ranch here.

The highlight of the evening for many was John Fielder’s visually striking presentation of his new photography book, Ranches of Colorado. For the book, John traveled all over the state of Colorado, photographing fifty ranches in order to capture the open space and habitat that ranches provide.

Overall, the Colorado Section helped host an excellent section meeting. I gained a great deal from both the meeting content and the chance to speak with many of the section members. Thank you, Colorado Section, for this introduction to another portion of your beautiful state! I can’t wait to visit again soon!