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

Texas Section Youth Range Workshop - 2011

By Jenny Pluhar, Texas Section
The Texas Section just completed our 57th Annual Youth Range Workshop. That’s right…57 years. We had 28 youth and 14 directors. We had six days of fun in the sun. Even had some rain, which is as rare as hen’s teeth in Texas this year!

We began on Sunday afternoon learning about the importance of rangelands. Texas is roughly 60% rangelands that serve as watersheds for some of our largest urban areas, so rangelands here are important to everyone from the city folks to the ranchers, hunters and recreationists. Monday we began plant collections and learned to use GPS on the range. We also began our public speaking exercises. Days began early (thought for the day was at 7 am) and we worked through til 11 pm each night. It doesn’t take long to spend the night at Youth Range Workshop in Texas!

Tuesday, we toured the Landers Ranch, ran pace transects, clipped plots, measured brush density, read photo plots and learned the fine points of utilization, stocking rates and range economics. We were especially honored to learn from Dr. Jake Landers, who attended the very first TSSRM Youth Range Workshop. More recreation, public speaking, and classroom analysis of the data we collected.

Wednesday, we toured two ranches, watched demonstrations of mechanical and chemical brush control, learned about prescribed fire (usually we do a burn, but it is too darn dry!), conducted endangered species surveys, even watched a Texas horned lizard eat harvester ants and burrow into the soil. More plant collecting, recreation, and public speaking.

Thursday, we were at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area where we learned all about the water cycle and how vegetative cover on rangeland impacts everything from evapotranspiration to infiltration rates. We rained on plots, measured soil temps, infiltration, aggregate stability and watched various brush species waste water right before our very eyes. We swam in the spring fed Johnson Creek (awesomely beautiful) and worked on our notebooks which were due that evening. We finished off the day with snacks and a quiz bowl competition that ran past midnight!

Friday morning we did ranch plans, compiling all the knowledge we gained throughout the week. We presented our plans and gathered our things to return home. Closing ceremonies Friday afternoon included recognition for the cleanest cabin, leaders in our cabin groups, champion recreational group, best plant collections and notebooks, the Sam Coleman Award for combined notebook and plant collection achievement and the coveted Trail Boss award.

Woven throughout the week was the concept of stewardship. Directors presented the origins of the word stewardship and the biblical reasons we are called to learn to care for the land and the animals.

Plans are already underway for the 2012 Youth Range Workshop!

Have you attended or helped organize a range camp? What was your experience like?

High Desert Youth Range Camp Celebrates 1st Successful Year!

By Brenda Smith, Pacific Northwest Section



Group Photo


An extraordinary tradition that has been dormant for many years was renewed when 16 high-school age students from across Oregon and Idaho gathered June 19th-23rd for the first annual High Desert Youth Range Camp at the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range (NGBER) 40 miles west of Burns, OR. Well over a year ago a range camp committee made up of ARS scientists, Oregon State Cooperative Extension specialists, Treasure Valley Community College instructors and Harney County school district science teachers organized to develop the curriculum and logistics to host the camp at the 16,000 acre rangeland owned by the USDA-ARS. All told volunteers from nine agencies and local ranches committed their expertise and time as camp counselors, instructors, cooks to direct activities for the 4 day camp. The camp staff and presenters were all absolutely outstanding and put a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice to make range camp in Oregon a reality. The Pacific Northwest Section of SRM board of directors was instrumental in supporting the camp and provided a substantial financial donation to see range camp get off to a good start. A number of conservation districts and even private ranchers supported scholarships for students to attend.



Riparian Studies

Top of the World (or a Butte)

Activities included map reading, GPS, compass and orienteering, soils investigation activities, plant identification and monitoring, interactions of fire, grazing and weeds, Juniper woodland investigations, wildlife presentations on mule deer and sage grouse, a visit to the nearby Hotchkiss Co. Ranch, riparian zone investigations, student team presentations, daily team building and leadership activities, and more. The students in attendance were interested, engaged, and adventurous and worked extremely well together. It was a downright “fun” learning experience. The top student selected to attend the SRM High School youth forum is Isaac Studtmann from Long Creek, OR. Just a few of the comments received from the students include “I feel that I have taken so much out of this camp and could see myself working in this field”, “I feel so much more informed about issues with rangeland management. I am now considering a career in rangeland management much more now!” and “Overall I think camp went very well and I am happy I came. Thanks for doing this for us.”

Soil tests

We all are very excited to have a range camp back in Oregon and look forward to keeping the renewed tradition going and growing.

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.

Shining Horizons: Ranching for Resilience on Rocky Mountain Rangelands

A photography exhibit at Off the Beaten Path, Steamboat Springs, Colorado

May 2011

By Matt Barnes

Director, Colorado Section SRM

Photo by Matt Barnes

As a rangeland conservationist and ranch manager in western Colorado, I have the opportunity to live and work in a land of great beauty.  Indeed, the western landscape is what drew me to the rangeland profession in the first place.  Over the years, I’ve tried to capture a little bit of that beauty with my digital camera.  In the last year or so I’ve been doing a lot of ranch work, and since the ranching world tends to require long hours, I’ve often found myself working in photogenic places during the low-angle amber light of dawn and dusk, and many times I’ve realized that I was standing in a photograph, I just had to pull out my pocket digital, compose the shot, press the shutter button, and a great image was transferred from reality to pixels.

My photography has progressed from a pursuit of perfect, pristine landscapes to a documentation of living and working on the land.  What really excites me, as a land steward, as a writer and artist, and as a citizen, is harmony of humans with the rest of nature—not standing apart, either as directors or as leading actors in front of a static backdrop, but as an integral part of the greater whole:  a complex, self-organizing, adaptive system.

Photo by Matt Barnes

The American West is primarily a rangeland landscape, along with forested mountains and, in those few places that can be irrigated, grass meadows or small tracts of farmland.  But most of it is still rangeland, because it doesn’t make sense as farmland, ecologically or economically.  So, living on the land in most of the West means hunting and gathering, or the natural extensions of those life-ways: herding and gardening.  These activities, in and of themselves, are neither beneficial nor detrimental; their impact on the greater whole depends on how they are managed.  While in some places we are living with the legacy of poorly managed livestock grazing, there are many examples of livestock grazing where the health of the land is stable or improving. 

These examples of land stewardship for resilience are the heart of the next West, the agrarian West, and a few of them are featured in an exhibit of my best photographs, on display this month at Off the Beaten Path in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Photo by Matt Barnes

The exhibit is subtitled “ranching for resilience” because the best stewards recognize that they are part of a greater whole, and they manage for its resilience: the capacity of the system to withstand disturbance and retain or resume its essential structure and function.  Resilience goes beyond equilibrium concepts of sustainable yield of any product or even optimization of competing land uses, to embrace a non-equilibrium world.  In the long run, nothing can be sustained in perpetuity because the system is always evolving; the ultimate unforeseen consequence of our success is that we create a new reality to which we must then adapt, or be replaced.  To surpass sustainability, the goal of land management should be to maintain or enhance the resilience of systems in desirable states, and to find and capitalize on opportunities to improve the functioning of systems in undesirable states. In so doing, stewards strive to create harmony in landscapes of great beauty.

My photographs are an attempt to capture a little bit of this dynamic world of rangeland stewardship.  This exhibit is an opportunity to share a glimpse of this land of beauty with others, especially those who do not have the opportunity to live it every day.  If you are in Steamboat Springs this month, I hope you will stop by Off the Beaten Path and have a look.

Photo by Matt Barnes

Editor’s note:  Matt Barnes, CPRM, is Director (2010-2011) of the Colorado Section SRM, and serves the SRM on the Rangelands Editorial Board and the Applied Science Task Force.  He is owner of Shining Horizons Land Management, and manages the Howell Ranch near Cimarron, Colorado, from May-October.  You can follow his blog and see more of his photographs at www.ShiningHorizons.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!!

Welcome to the Billings Annual Meeting from the Billings Planning Committee

TRANSCENDING BORDERS - LANDSCAPES AND LEGENDS

_________________________________________________________
Just wanted to remind everyone the 64th SRM Annual Meeting is fast approaching. This year’s meeting will be held in Billings, Montana February 6-11, 2011. The meeting promises to be both worthwhile and informative with talks on a wide array of subjects including Native History, Contrasting Lewis and Clark’s Trip Through the Great Plains with Present Day, Historical Changes in Rangeland Management, Birds, Bugs, Popular Notions and the Range. Visit the meeting website (www.rangelands.org/billings2011) to start planning your top priority sessions and events.

While at the meeting, make sure to attend the Producer’s Forum: The Art of Grazing Management on Tuesday, February 8th, as well as one of over 20 symposia focusing on such topics as Sustainable Ranch Management, The Ecology of Seedling Establishment, Expiring CRP: Alternative Management Systems, Rangeland Pollinators: Emerging Issues, and many more. A complete list of symposia can be found by clicking here.

In addition to the many great talks there will be technical tours to the Pryor Mountain Horse Range, Pompey’s Pillar and the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

The Billings Annual Meeting will provide numerous opportunities for attendees to “Transcend Borders” by developing and strengthening working relationships with other SRM members and individuals and organizations that share a passion for the world’s rangelands.

If all that isn’t enough to get you excited for the meeting, then come “Catch the Beaver Fever” and cut a rug to Bucky Beaver and the Ground Grippers at the dance on Tuesday night, February 8th. Still not enough… come dine on some fine Montana home grown cuisine during the Wednesday night Eventing in Montana non-banquet, while being entertained (and trust me you will be entertained) by Montana’s own Ringling 5!  For a complete list of special events, click here.

While it may be cold outside, we promise you’ll be too entertained and informed inside to notice…



Upcoming Symposium: Breaking the Current Fire Cycle, February 1-2, 2011

Guest post by Neil Rimbey, Idaho Section


The Boise District BLM Resource Advisory Council, the Society for Range Management, the Agricultural Research Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service and others are sponsoring a Symposium on February 1-2, 2011 in Boise, Idaho. “How Can Resource Management Break the Current Fire Cycle?” is designed to identify fire, fuel and vegetation management methods appropriate for conserving high value and degraded Wyoming Sagebrush steppe habitats by reducing fire frequency. The session will be highlighted by the Keynote Address by Dr. Jim Young, author of the recent book, Cheatgrass: Fire and Forage on the Range. Jim will summarize over 40 years of research on the ecology, management and control of cheatgrass. This background information will set the stage for jumping into 5 key questions:

1. Given the opportunity to develop major, strategic fire breaks, what kinds of fuel breaks would be effective and affordable to create, maintain and persist?
2. What other kinds of fuel breaks and tools can be used most effectively in areas with frequent wildfires and areas which still maintain Wyoming sagebrush stands?
3. In light of listings of threatened or endangered species in the sagebrush steppe system, is a fuel reduction program feasible and what suitability criteria, mitigation and administrative procedures will allow for its establishment?
4. How can various fuel reduction tools be coordinated across land ownerships to facilitate the next step of rangeland rehabilitation?
5. What monitoring and management protocols can be established to ensure that we achieve short-, intermediate- and long-term goals associated with fuel management, decreasing fire frequency and rangeland rehabilitation?

These questions will be explored by panels of experts and practitioners associated with each area. They will involve active audience participation through questions and dialog.

The session will be held at the Washington Group International Conference facility (800 Park Blvd.) in the heart of downtown Boise. More information is available via the following website:
http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/res/resource_advisory/boise/boise_district_rac.html

Additional questions? Contact Neil Rimbey (208-454-6566 or nrimbey@uidaho.edu), or Ted Hoffman (208-587-6374 or brokeno@mindspring.com )

Idaho Section Meeting

By Julia Workman, SRM Outreach Intern


The Idaho SRM Section’s 2010 winter meeting on November 10-12 featured several talented speakers at various symposia focused on “Alternative Management Strategies in Big Sagebrush Steppe: Perspectives, Opportunities, and Supporting Evidence.” The section co-hosting Spokane 2012 showed the 150 visitors to Idaho Falls a great learning experience and plenty of opportunity for Idaho section members to get to know each other and guest Aleta Rudeen, the national organization’s Director for Outreach and Leadership.

The meeting kicked off with the business meeting on Wednesday night. Karen Launchbaugh, a professor at the University of Idaho, talked about the new UI Rangeland Center. This program, the only one like it in the West, currently has a membership of 23 professors, agency workers, and other individuals interested in rangelands. It will focus on applied research and forming longterm relationships, as well as solidifying the importance of rangeland ecology and management through times of shifting values at the university. Meribeth Lomkin also took the spotlight as she received the Traveling Outhouse Award for the second year running (which was handy, since the outhouse had forgotten to travel to the meeting).

The Thursday and Friday seminars kicked off with “Sagebrush steppe ecosystems—musings of a long-term student,” followed by talks ranging in topic from “Understanding resistance to invasion and resilience to disturbance” to “Fire ecology of sagebrush systems: to burn or not to burn for wildlife habitat,” from “Remote sensing applications in the sagebrush steppe of Idaho” to “Inter-relationships of invasive and native plants and hydroclimate in sagebrush steppe: implications for management.” Needless to say, everyone’s understanding of the sagebrush ecosystem improved quite a bit during our time there.

Another highlight of the meeting was the student benefit silent auction, which featured fierce bidding for such items as a license plate clock, a juniper-stand lamp, canned produce, several books, and of course a number of gift baskets. Proceeds from this annual event go to the Brian Miller Scholarship fund and donations to other student groups. Winners were declared during the Friday lunchtime poster session.

I also had the opportunity to catch up with incoming section president Roger Blew, so be sure to keep posted for the next SRM Spotlight!

Overall, thanks to Idaho for a terrific experience. The meeting was a huge success with plenty of good fun, food, and friends to offset a great atmosphere for learning. We're well on track with planning for Spokane 2012... but first, I'll see you all in Billings!

SRM Spotlight: Chuck Quimby, Colorado Section

By Julia Workman, SRM Outreach Intern

For the busy professional, it can be difficult to maintain a high level of involvement in a society like SRM. Life member Chuck Quimby, Rangeland Program Manager for the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region, can relate. This Colorado Section Member enjoys playing the bagpipes (although he declined to elaborate on his skill level), as well as hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor recreation. He received his B.S. in rangeland management with a wildlife management minor from the University of Arizona, where he also earned his Master’s degree in watershed management. He has been with the Forest Service for 39 years since graduating, not including seasonal work and a brief stint with the NRCS. Chuck says that his job keeps him busy, which means that he has been able to hold “no real offices” in SRM serving on the editorial board for Rangelands magazine. Yet he has maintained an active membership since the late sixties, when he joined as a college student. He says he joined because SRM was the professional organization for rangeland management.

Chuck decided early to become a life member because of the importance of staying involved with such an organization, and has maintained his membership in the Society for the value of his interactions with other members and access to the Society’s journals.

The Society, Chuck says, is still meeting the needs of the workforce at least as well as when he joined. He cites Rangelands and Rangeland Ecology and Management as examples of these services which also enable the Society to reach a broader and richer audience. He adds that the sections are doing a good job of staying strong and keeping people informed.

Chuck adds that SRM has done a good job of keeping its focus fairly constant, with its emphases on science and on-the-ground application, since he joined—despite some important changes. The “biggest and best” change he has seen has been the outreach to other groups with an interest in rangelands, especially professional groups and the livestock industry. He explains that livestock grazing has recently come under attack in Western culture, and hopes that SRM will be to maintain the importance of livestock grazing on the rangelands of the West. Chuck also hopes that SRM will stay relevant—the “go-to leader” for rangeland management—as it begins to deal with new aspects of rangeland management in a changing culture. “Open spaces” and zoning have not had bearing on rangeland management in the past, he points out, but will play critical roles in the future as urban areas continue to encroach on the rangeland interface. He also notes the demographic change seen all over the workforce today: an aging workforce in both the Society and agencies: “I’ve been around for 39 years, but I’m not going to stay forever,” he says.

Chuck believes SRM should work more closely with universities and agencies to produce graduates qualified to work in a variety of fields. It’s not enough anymore, he says, to graduate with a range degree: a professional needs to be able to interact with fish, wildlife, and water, as well. The presence of older, retired members in the Society is also an important resource for younger members so long as they make use of the opportunity to gain the knowledge born of years of experience.

All that said, Chuck still most highly values how the SRM enables him to interact with “a lot of different professionals in a lot of different fields” and appreciates the training, education, and knowledge exchange it has to offer, as well as being able to keep abreast of the latest science through access to SRM’s journals. He hopes SRM will be able to stay alive, active, and relevant in the coming years, and more engaged in a changing Western America and a changing world. Many groups, he says, don’t like or don’t understand what range managers and SRM do, but he hopes our importance will be made apparent to those people who care about rangelands and even to those who don’t know what rangelands really are.

Chuck has two pieces of advice for younger members. The first concerns SRM involvement: Join, he says, and go to as many functions as you can; when you’re there, interact with other members. Take initiative, because your own interest will carry you the farthest. His second is broader: There is no dumb advice. He clarifies, “You can learn from anybody, anywhere; you just have to be able to put [their advice] in perspective and make it fit your situation.”

Texas Section Meeting

My first ever visit to Texas was indeed, a Texas experience and a great introduction to the Texas Section of SRM.  The TSSRM fall meeting, this year held October 13-15 in Odessa, TX, is similar to a mini version of the international SRM Annual Meeting, complete with a trade show and more than 200 registrants.  While in Odessa I experienced first-hand the famed Texas hospitality...  (despite my inability to two-step).  I thoroughly enjoyed the technical sessions, banquets, and field tour.

A very large portion of the TSSRM membership is made up of NRCS employees, which is unsurprising as Texas has large amounts of private relative to public land.  Also noteworthy is that the Texas section is by far the largest section of SRM with more than 500 members.  This makes for big meetings with an interesting focus.  Additionally the meeting hosted quite a few young professionals, who had several opportunities to attend career development sessions in conjunction with the meeting, and plant ID and photo contest.

The Thursday and Friday technical sessions kicked off with a welcome from the Mayor of Odessa, and focused on a diversity of topics.  These included: effects of woody plants on water balance, effects of rangeland recovery on stream flows, mechanisms driving vegetation change, herbicides, prescribed fire to improve diversity, the challenges to range improvements, and the management of salt cedar using herbicides and biological control.  Presenters brought a wide range of experience to the technical sessions, as well as on the tour Thursday afternoon.

The tour was, as always, a meeting highlight.  On Thursday afternoon we set out in four large, air conditioned buses from the hotel heading for the local Railway Ranch.  Stan Smith, the owner of the ranch greeted us and gave an overview of the area.  Ray Schimcek gave an overview of the ranch partnerships and Dr. Dan Womochel (pictured) spoke about area geology, but not before warning the us that giving a microphone to a retired Professor of Geology could be a dangerous thing to do.

The second stop on the tour focused on vegetation, forage, and treatment of creosote and tarbush, led by Dr. Allan McGinty, Preston Irwin, and Sam Schiwart.  At the third stop of the tour Guy Bell gave an overview of the treatment of African rue, and Jim Bob Simms spoke to us about pipeline safety.  Mark Moseley gave a talk titled Forage Estimation and Grazing Stick Demonstration, after which, he distributed grazing sticks to the group.  (I was disappointed, but fairly unsurprised to have my grazing stick confiscated in airport security the following day).

One of my favorite talks from the tour was titled Feng Shui for Wildlife, during which Dr. Dale Rollins shook things up with regards to vegetation management for wildlife.  Somehow, he managed to put nearly everything in terms of baseball and gave a creative, interesting talk.

All in all, the TSSRM meeting was a successful and interesting event  The banquet was fun and entertaining, I am pretty sure the auction made a killing off both its willing and unwilling bidders (and with some top notch items for sale), and people all seemed to know one another well, despite being the largest section of the Society.

Thank you to the Texas Section of SRM for their hospitality and the introduction to Texas!  Next year I'll do my best to bring some boots.

California Pacific and Pacific Northwest Joint Section Meeting

The CalPac and PNW sections of SRM hosted a phenomenal joint section meeting early October at Lava Beds National Monument near Tulelake, California.  We learned about area rangelands, fire ecology, and the geologic and anthropogenic history at the monument.  Presentations focused on pre- and post- European settlement ecological conditions, fire management in the national monument and fire history of the area, and on wildlife species, wildlife preserves, and biodiversity.

A personal highlight from the meeting included several spelunking expeditions in the lava tubes.  It took a sense of adventure to climb through the caves, one flashlight to every four or five people!

Another meeting highlight was a detailed narrative of the Modoc War during the winter of 1872 and 1873 at the monument.  Our guide, who was himself a Modoc descendant, took us on tour through the site of the Modoc War, giving a vivid account of the battles, its key players, and how it all fit into the striking Lava Beds landscape.

Also at the meeting, I had the opportunity to meeting with the Spokane 2012 Annual Meeting planning committee.  These folks are well on their way towards putting together a meeting that will blow your socks off.  That is, if you even have socks by the end of the Billings Annual Meeting this February 6-10, 2011 in Montana.  Don't forget to register ASAP to qualify for early registration rates.

In an nutshell, the CalPac/PNW joint fall meetings was one more example of SRM sections putting on a great meeting: good food, good people, good conversation all around.  Thanks to both sections for the hospitality!

(Well, mostly good people - these two are clearly up to some trouble!)