wyoming section - society for range...
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
Message From the President
Summer Issue 2015
Greetings Rangeland Enthusiasts!
I can’t believe it’s the end of July! I
don’t know where time goes, but I guess that’s
what happens when you’re having fun.
The ESD Workshop committee hosted
the second annual workshop May 13 at the
Sweetwater River Conservancy. Approximate-
ly 40 people from at least 6 counties in Wyo-
ming attended the workshop. Employees from
federal, state, and local government plus con-
sultants were the majority of the participants. If
you were unable to attend the workshops last
year or this year visit the WY SRM website to
view workshop materials and the ESD video
series that was recorded last year.
I had the opportunity to attend part of
Wyoming Resource Education Days (WyRED)
June 22 – 26 at the Uinta County Youth Camp.
I enjoy teaching, and watching the youth learn.
I’m always impressed with the youth who at-
tend – their interest and knowledge of range-
lands at their age is reassuring we’ll have
knowledgeable rangeland stewards into the
future. Thank you to our partners and guest
speakers for another successful camp. And, a
special thank you to the Uinta County Conser-
vation District for hosting WyRED 2015!
Looking forward …
The WY SRM council will have a con-
ference call Thursday, September 3 from 7 – 8
am. All members are welcome to join the call.
Please contact Windy directly for the call-in
information. This will help to ensure we have
sufficient lines available.
Each year WY SRM accepts nomina-
tions for awards to honor our peers. We all
know someone who deserves to be nominated,
so please start thinking about potential nomi-
nee(s). You’ll receive information about the
different awards, and how to nominate some-
one in the coming month or two.
Mark your calendars. The 2015 WY
SRM annual meeting will be a joint meeting
with the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council, and
the Wyoming Association of Conservation Dis-
tricts in Laramie at the Hilton Garden
Inn. The theme of this year’s meeting
is Partners in Resource Excellence.
The meeting will start Monday, No-
vember 2 and conclude Thursday,
November 5. This said, WY SRM
events won’t begin until Tuesday,
November 3. Please:
* Mark your calendars
* Reserve your hotel room – details on page 2
* Stay tuned to the WY SRM website for regis-
tration details
Thank you all for the work you do, and
your passion for rangelands. I hope to see all of
you in November, if not sooner!
-Windy K.
Inside this issue:
Hotel Information 2
Announcements 3
Range Blog & Book 4
WYRED 5 – 7
Officers
President Windy Kelley [email protected] President-Elect Jessica Crowder [email protected] Past President Brian Mealor [email protected] Secretary/Treasurer Marji Patz [email protected] NE Council Rep Kassie Bales [email protected] NW Council Rep Katelyn Schade [email protected] SE Council Rep Rachel Mealor [email protected] SW Council Rep Bryan Christensen bryan.christensen@wy. usda.gov Newsletter Editor Brian Sebade [email protected]
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
Make your hotel reservation today to attend the 2015 WY SRM Annual Meeting
November 2 – 5 in Laramie. Hotel Information:
Hilton Garden Inn
2229 Grand Ave.
Laramie, WY 82070
307.745.5500
Room rate of $83/night 11/1/15 – 11/5/15
Please ask for rooms in the Natural Resource Conference block.
Holiday Inn
204 30th Street
Laramie, WY 82070
307.721.9000
Room rate of $83/night single or $93/night 2 persons 11/2/15 – 11/5/15
Please ask for rooms in the NRC block.
Hampton Inn
3715 E. Grand Ave.
Laramie, WY 82070
307.742.0125
Room rate $83/night 11/2/15 – 11/5/15
Please ask for rooms in the Natural Resource Conference block.
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
Low-Stress Livestock Handling Workshop
With Whit Hibbard, rancher and editor of the Stockmanship Journal
Tuesday August 18 at the Headwaters Art & Conference Center, Dubois, Wyoming
Low-stress livestock handling has been shown to improve performance (i.e., weight gain, conception rates, milk yield, immune function and carcass quality), as well as efficiency, safety, animal welfare, and quality of life, and to facilitate improved grazing management and distribution, rangeland health, coexistence with wildlife (even potential predators).
The clinic will be taught by Whit Hibbard – a fourth generation Montana rancher (Sieben Live Stock Co.), for-mer national park mounted ranger, and editor of the Stockmanship Journal. Whit will make the case for low-stress livestock handling, then cover the fundamentals, including principles, techniques, and practical appli-cations.
Hosted by the Dubois-Crowheart Conservation District, Wyoming Section members Brad Russell and Michelle Buzalsky of the Shoshone National Forest, and Matt Barnes of People and Carnivores. For more in-formation, contact Matt [email protected] or 970-724-9326.
Survey Help Needed!!
The Wyoming Section of SRM has sponsored and promoted Range Schools around the state since 2004. There have been multiple topics and formats presented in the past. The Rangeland Management School Cadre would like to get information on the future direction and application of range school topics and schools. Please take a few moments to complete the survey by clicking on the link below. Thank You for your time and participation. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XZYV82Z
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
Rangelands Blog
A southwestern Wyoming producer baffled trying to understand new range cattle production research prompted a blog translating complex scientific literature into language for the general public. University of Wyoming Extension range specialist Derek Scasta started the blog after visiting with the rancher.
“Scientists speak their own language and have to explain methods and statistics in great detail, making research very tedious to read and difficult for the general public to read,” said Scasta, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The blog “Rangelands4U” is at http://bit.ly/rangelands4u.
“I regularly read research that deals with topics ranging from cattle to conservation,” said Scasta. “As an extension spe-cialist, it is my job to make the information accessible and easy to understand.”
Research can be hard to access because not all scientific journals are openly accessible for free. Many research articles are behind paywalls.
“Many scientific journals rely on subscriptions by large libraries, or individuals have to purchase individual arti-cles,” Scasta said. “This makes it nearly impossible for the average citizen to get information that has been vetted by the scientific community.”
Scasta said the typically one paragraph posts summarize key findings of the most recent research relevant to Wyo-ming rangelands. Readers can subscribe with an email address to receive notifications of new posts.
PRE-ORDER NOW - COMING SOON!!
Rangeland Plants: Wyoming Tough is a field guide with 75 common Wyoming
rangeland plants. There is a description and plenty of pictures.
We are taking pre-orders. We need to get an estimation of how many will be
printed before we know the exact price but we are hoping for $5/book.
Contact Mae Smith ([email protected]) by Tuesday August, 11th if you would like copies of this guide. Committee chairs: This would make a great award. ~It would also be a fun gift
for family or colleagues!
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
2015 WyRED proved to be another excellent week of learning, fun and challenges for youth and adults alike.
This year we had the honor of having educators join us for the week as participants working to earn credits through the
University of Wyoming. Their work through the week proved helpful for the students in attendance as well as the staff.
But we take our hats off to the dedicated FFA Advisors, Conservation District Staff, and volunteers that work through
the week to make this event possible. The Uinta County Conservation District and staff were top notch, worked hard
day in and day out to provide amazing meals, presentations, and an overall excellent week! Their new logo design and
additions of the Anniversary Celebration touch the hearts of all the WyRED Cadre! We
send our heartfelt thank you to Kerri Sabey, Briar Harris, and Monte Hill!
The week begins with plant anatomy, soils and geology, plant identification. We
then add to these topics and apply them in using ecological sites. We then venture into
rangeland monitoring and improvements for grazing and wildlife, multiple land uses and
alternative income sources for land managers, as well as ranch planning. We are grateful
to the Guild Ranch, Siebert Ranch, and Lone Tree Ranch for the time they shared with the
students. The history of the area and the diversity of the management between ranches
provided new perspectives to the group.
This year WyRED celebrated the 20th Anniversary. With this celebration we keep working to improve and grow
the program. We invite anyone and everyone to participate, to assist with the education, or just help in the back-
ground. No matter how you are involved, WyRED provides opportunities to everyone. The greatest opportunity for
the WyRED committee, however, is the opportunity to see the wonderful rangeland managers that are in the making.
Each year it is exciting to see the returning faces as well as the new faces. We are excited as the more seasoned camp-
ers excel and we are always rooting for the new campers who step in to challenge for the top seat. This year we had a
new camper that stepped up to that challenge and won the seat as 2015 Top Camper – Carson Ellis of Mountain View,
WY had an excellent plant press and improved each day on the daily challenges, and did very well on the contest. Hats
off to Carson! The Most improved award this year was won by a Megan Lym from Evanston, WY as she made great
advances through the week. We were saddened when she had to leave before the contest, but we are hopeful she will
return next year!
This year the camp stepped up in the world of technology and we opened the plant press portion of the week
to allow electronic plant collections as well as the “old fashioned” plant presses. Dr. Dan Rodgers with the University
of Wyoming took this challenge with his assistance and graded 23 plant presses, a near record! We had 9 electronic
entries and 14 old fashioned entries. The Top Plant Press Award was accepted by Elizabeth Martinez of Worland, WY
and the Adult Plant Press was accepted by Julie Hickey of Lone Tree, WY. The Top Electronic Plant Press Award was
won by Sara Rankin of Upton, WY and the Adult Electronic Plant Press Award was won by Diana Timms of Mountain
View, WY. We had excellent presses with an astonishing number of specimens! Great Job to all those who completed
the assignment.
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
We are always grateful to hand out the camp awards, but the heart of WyRED is the State Rangeland Judging Contest held at the
end of Camp. We have FFA, 4-H, open youth, open adult, and Professionals who step up to the challenge. This year we had 35
participants in the contest, of which 3 were brush popper (the campers under the age of 14), 9 open adult, and 5 Professionals
compete. When the dust settled and the results were in, they looked like this:
Brush Popper Division (4-H):
1st – Anna Grant – Douglas, WY
2nd – Ella Meyer – Douglas, WY
3rd – Cora Grant – Douglas, WY
Professionals:
1st – Grace Godfrey – Worland, WY – (Washakie FFA Advisor)
2nd – Misty Hayes – Douglas, WY – (Forest Service)
3rd – Rex Lockman – Cheyenne, WY – (Laramie County Conservation District)
Open Adult:
1st – Morgan Hayes – Douglas, WY
2nd – James Halverson – Sundance, WY (Sundance FFA Advisor)
3rd – Ricardo Martinez – Worland,
Open Youth (FFA):
1st – Buck Butterfield – Worland, WY
2nd – Cody Baumstarck – Worland, WY
3rd – Karen Lambert – Upton, WY
Team Awards (Only the top 3 scores are used for each team):
1st – Worland 1 – Buck Butterfield, Cody Baumstarck, and Matt Borovitz
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Wyoming Section
Society for Range Management
2nd – Upton 1 – Maxx Cowger, Mckenzie Grubbs, Sara Rankin, and Karen Lambert
3rd – Sundance 1 – Taitlyn Bethea, Bailey Middleton, Megan Olson, and Hailey Marchent
Each and every participant needs a round of applause for their hard work, willingness to try new adventures, and ability to rise
above the challenges! The week was hot, long days in some rough country and they hung on and ended the day with basketball,
volleyball, tetherball, s’mores and more! Come join us next year, be ready for a new rally dance, great fun, and a challenge to learn
about Wyoming’s Ranching and other Amazing Natural Resources!