History of the Utah Section, Society for Range Management 1979-1984 Max Robinson 1985-1993
Kurtis A. Robins 2004 Section President
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- Art Tait
Kurtis A. Robins2004 Section PresidentPresident’s Summary The 2004 year for the Utah Section of the Society for Range Management had many successful activities and events with the grand daddy Utah Section hosting the 57th annual SRM meeting, ?Rangelands in Transition,? in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 24-30. A new attendance record of registrants joined hundreds of range folks in the beautiful confines of the Grand America hotel in SLC. Our section members Doug Johnson and Durant McArthur co-chaired the planning committee and did an outstanding job with many section members contributing to the success of the meetings. The section realized over $18,000 to their pool of funds from their efforts. George Cook and gang provided a steak dinner organized by Steve Monsen for a tour on Antelope Island that was a hit for all those who attended. The section did not rest on its laurels this year and pressed forward with an outstanding summer tour with over 60 participants who toured the historical Fremont River expedition route through Utah. The route was followed from Provo to Lytle Ranch near Beaver Dam reservoir in south west Utah. Dr. Stan Welch narrated the event and told many stories and identified several plants. He did an excellent job and arranged to allow the group to stay at the ranch at no cost. George Cook and gang presented a feast of fine bovine and the fixings that was enjoyed by all. Many thanks go to Ron Torgerson and Steve Monsen for organizing the event. Thanks to George Cook, the summer range camp for high school students was resurrected this summer. In August 2004, 12 high school students attended three days of training at the Gooseberry Guard station. Leaders included Mindy Pratt, Kendall Nelson, Ron Torgerson, Roger Banner, Kurt Robins and George Cook. After several quizzes and worksheets, Clint Eastman from Moore, Utah finished as the top range camper. A thank you goes to past president Art Tait and financial committee member Jessica Bullock for spending a considerable amount of time getting our financial house in order. We now have entered an agreement with Mr. Wilson, a CPA residing in Cedar City who has assisted with getting our tax exempt ID status current. Section officers are also evaluating our current financial structure and investments to see if there isn’t a more efficient way to handle the finances with such high turnover with the presidents and directors of the section council. George Cook and gang come through with flying colors providing several steak dinners as fund raisers for the section. Our best to George for all the service he renders to the section. In November 2004, President Elect Ron Torgerson organized an outstanding fall section meeting addressing timely topics of poorly planned ATV use on rangelands, rangeland monitoring assessment and proper functioning condition of riparian areas. The evening was very enjoyable with an awards banquet and scholarship auction for students in range schools in the state of Utah. The ?Reins? of leadership were exchanged from Kurtis Robins to Ron Torgerson as the newly installed president of the Utah Section for 2005. Congratulations Ron and much thanks Art Tait for the fine service as the outgoing past president of the section. Kurtis Robins Art Tait2003 Business meetings were held in Nov. 2002, January, April and September. The summer meeting was cancelled as a result of canceling the summer tour. Steve Monsen had arranged with Stan Welsh to host us on a summer tour to trace portions of the John C. Fremont's travel through Utah. He arranged to have a small booklet printed that included a list and description of the key species we would observe on the route. The booklet includes color pictures and a brief write-up of each species. The Section had budgeted money to pay for the booklet along with costs to cover buses, evening meal, etc. Steve paid for the booklet which amounted to $300.00. He still has the booklets and the Section has elected to reschedule the tour next summer. The Section needs to reimburse Steve Monsen for his costs. Thanks to Ross Wight the handbook was updated and some additions made. The Bylaws were updated and changed at the Fall 2003 meeting to reflect $ changes to the L.A. Stoddard scholarship fund. The major administrative action was to get the Sections non-profit status reinstated by the State of Utah. This has now been done. Financially the Section is in good standing but work to satisfy the IRS tax reporting requirements need to be followed up. Through the year nearly $3000.00 was raised for the scholarship fund. Many thanks to the members and to Gorge Cook et.al. for their efforts. Recipients; Utah State and BYU received their money $1,000.00 each. Participation and membership is up some thanks to Dave Grider and others for their efforts in promoting the Society. The Section membership increased about 20 percent during 2003. Considerable work has been accomplished regards to the 2004 annual meeting. A big thanks goes to Durant McArthur and Doug Johnson and their committee Chairs. Rachel Jolley Student Affairs Committee Chair has done a tremendous job and reports: Over 20 students participated in this year’s state meetings held in Provo on November 7-8. This year’s student activities included a plant contest, the Undergraduate Range Management Exam (URME), a high school paper presentation, and several undergraduate and graduate student presentations. Students represented Utah State University, Brigham Young University, and Utah Valley State College. In the high school paper presentation, Morgan Russell, from Dixie High School, pioneered the competition and will go on to represent the Utah section at the National Meetings in January. In the plant ID contest, Matt Stevenson (BYU) placed first, with Morgan Mendenhall (USU) finishing a very close second place. In the very challenging URME, Travis Mote (USU) took first, with BYU’s Luke Marchant in second. The best combined score for both the URME and the plant contest was from BYU student, Matt Stevenson. The SRM also recognized North Sanpete High School as the winning team in the State judging contest (coached by Kevin Allen). After several years without student activities, we are very pleased with the number of participants this year. We express appreciation to those who donated their time to make this event a success. In the future, we hope to have more high school organizations participate and become familiar with the SRM. We hope the student activities will be a means of recruiting the next generation of range managers in Utah. A great fall meeting was planned and carried out by Kurt Robins the 2003-4 President. Thanks Kurt. Download 1.43 Mb. Share with your friends:
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