History of the Utah Section, Society for Range Management 1979-1984 Max Robinson 1985-1993
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DOUGLAS A. JOHNSONPRESIDENT1992This year has been a rewarding one for me in serving as Utah Section SRM President. I have enjoyed the experience and appreciated the support given to me by our membership in 1992. I want to particularly thank Allen Rasmussen for the time and energies he has given to the Utah Section SRM this past year as Secretary-Treasurer. I also would like to express my appreciation to the Committee Chairmen who led their committees this past year and regularly attended our five council meetings. Their leadership was essential in successfully conducting Utah Section SRM business and allowing $ 8,000 to be added to the Utah Section Scholarship Fund in 1992. Utah Section students did extremely well at the 1992 SRM annual meetings in Spokane, WA with top honors garnered in the SRM Plant ID and URME exams as well as the SRM High School Youth Forum. Our Utah section had a busy and successful agenda in 1992, as evidenced by the appended committee reports and financial statement. The highlights of each committee were: Awards Committee: The 1992 Rangeman of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Neil E. West, and the 1992 Rancher of the Year was given to Allen Smith. A Certificate of Recognition was presented to Mark G. Fancis for his outstanding contribution to youth activities of the Utah Section SRM. Coordinated Resource Management Committee: The Utah State Executive Committee met only once in 1992, and the Technical Task Group for CRM in Utah did not meet in 1992. Consequently, the liaison role for this committee was non-functional. This committee probably should be dissolved. History Committee: Historical information pertaining to the Utah Section SRM is being computerized. A new filing system for historical documentation has been prepared. Photographs of past annual meetings, field trips, special events, award winners, and officers are being sought for deposit in Special Collections at Utah State University. More articles with an historical perspective should be published in the Newsletter. Another summary report covering the time period from 1984 needs to be published. Information and Education Committee: The Utah Section SRM Newsletter has been compiled, published, and mailed by staff at the Shrub Science Lab at Provo for more than 10 years. Plans have been finalized to have Pat Johnston, Price, UT, assemble and publish the Newsletter starting in January, 1993. Discussions with the Idaho and Nevada Sections should continue to explore the feasibility of publishing a joint newsletter. The Section display has been updated by the Brigham Young University Student Chapter. A total of 2,000 pamphlets ("Utah - Intrinsic Rangeland Values") were printed and distributed throughout Utah. Next year's committee should be encouraged to work closely with the Utah Travel Council in providing range-related input to the Utah Travel Guide. Membership Committee: The Utah Sections SRM had a net loss of seven members resulting in a total of 281 members. The 1993 Chairman should be encouraged to initiate an effort to contact these members to find out their reasons for dropping their membership. Nominations Committee: The candidates for President - Elect were Paul Curtis and Ron Wilson and for Council-Elect were Jim Brown and Richard Stevens. Ron Wilson and Jim Brown were elected. Public Affairs Committee: A letter was written to the Chief of the Forest Service and the Utah Congressional Delegation to solicit public input before moving the headquarters of the Intermountain Station from Ogden, UT to FT. Collins, Co. Range Excellence Committee: Tremendous progress has been made in focusing the goals of the committee, refining the selection criteria for evaluating sites that exhibit excellence in range management, and evaluating nominated sites. The committee selected three areas deserving of Range Excellence Awards including: 1) Fish Creek, Bennion, and Poison Ridge Allotments, 2) Cleveland Summer Allotment, and 3) Mormon Gap Allotment. The agencies responsible for managing the allotments and the associated livestock operators were presented award certificates at the 1992 Annual Business Meeting. Rangeland Reference Areas Committee: Almost all available enclosure, natural area, and relic area information for Utah has been entered into a PC database. Additional sites will be added to the database, and this information will be sent to the land management agencies in 1993 for verification and updating. Scholarship Committee: The 1992 L.A. Stoddart Scholarship was awarded to Shane Green at Utah State University in the amount of $ 1,000. Another $ 4000 is needed to allow presentation of a second scholarship. Youth Activities Committee: Kent Ellett of Utah State University received top honors for the Undergraduate Range Management Exam and James Potts, also of Utah State university, earned the highest score in the Plant Identification Exam held at the SRM Annual Meetings in Spokane, WA. Our three Utah High School delegates (Mindy Smith, Julie Lachowski, and Rachel Chappell) took first, second, and ninth places out of 29 papers in the SRM High School Youth Forum in Spokane. A total of 40 high school students attended the 1992 Utah National Resources youth Camp, and the top individuals were Emiko Chappell and Rachel Heaton. The Utah Section SRM gave each of these individuals a two-year student membership to SRM and will sponsor their travel to the 1993 SRM Annual meeting to be held in Albuquerque, NM. 1992 SRM Summer Meeting Committee: The meetings were held in Park City, UT on July 15-20 1992 with 257 members in attendance. The theme of the meeting was "Rangelands - Shifting Values". On the morning of July 16 Speakers highlighted the current rangeland situation in Utah. A general business meeting was held that afternoon. On July 17 a field tour was taken to Deseret Land and Livestock Corporation, a unique 201,000 acre ranch that manages 11,000 head of cattle and a mix of wildlife near Woodruff, UT. On July 18 a tour was taken to Strawberry Valley in the Uintah National forest near Park City. Two meals during the meetings were provided by the Northern and Southern Chapters. Over $ 8,000 was added to our Scholarship Fund from these meetings. Hardy Redd and his Program Committee did an excellent job of planning and organizing our 1992 Annual meeting at the Red Lion Inn at Salt Lake City, UT on December 10-11, 1992. The meeting was held jointly with the Utah Cattlemen and Wool Growers. A total of 93 members were in attendance at the meeting, which highlighted a panel discussion focusing on the theme "Seeking Common Ground". A volunteer paper session on December 11 focused attention on-going research and current rangeland issues in Utah with 15 paper presentations. In keeping with the alternating-year sequence of holding our annual meetings with neighboring states, our Utah Section SRM should probably initiate contacts with the Wyoming Section SRM to explore the possibility of a joint meeting in 1993. Download 1.43 Mb. Share with your friends:
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