CALIFORNIA
An organization meeting of this section was held December 16, 1949, and the following officers elected : President Waldo E. Wood, U. S. Forest Service, San Francisco; Vice-President Wayne W. Austin, U. S. Soil Conservation Service, Berkeley; Secretary-Treasurer Jay R. Bentley, U. S. Forest Service, Berkeley. Council members include H. H. Biswell, Forestry Division, University of Califor- nia, Berkeley; R. M. Love, University of California, College of Agriculture, Davis; William P. Dasmann, California Division of Fish and Game, San Francisco; A. W. Sampson, University of California, Berke- ley ; and T. Joseph Snyder, Bureau of Land Management, San Francisco.
The section was approved by the Council at its meeting in San Antonio on January 9.
H.H. BISWELL
COLORADO
A meeting of the Colorado Section was held November 18 and 19, 1949, on the Colorado A. & M. Campus, at Fort Collins. Forty-five out of 130 members registered, and upwards of 40 visitors were present for portions of the dis- cussions.
Two general topics were considered. On Friday morning the ever-increasing problem of management of cheatgrass infested ranges was discussed in a series of interesting and spirited talks by members representing the different ad- ministrative and research agencies. A. C. Hull, Jr., of the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, gave an
agrostologic resume of cheatgrass; W. W. Campbell, from the Bureau of Land Management at Craig, presented his views on cheatgrass on the Western Slope; Arthur Cramer of the U. S. Forest Service in Denver recommended a vigor- ous campaign to control cheatgrass; George Weaver, Washington, D. C., spoke for the Production and Marketing Ad- ministration; Jack McCorkle, Chief, Range Management Division, U. S. Soil Conservation Service, Albuquerque, represented his agency; E. W. Nelson, from the Colorado Agricultural Experi- ment Station, presented some figures on nutrient content of cheatgrass; and R. H. Patterson, a student, presented results from a study of cheatgrass.
Findings and conclusions of the group, as summarized by Warren Gray, Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction, chairman of the discussion, were :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Cheatgrass is a vigorous and nutri- tious forage plant in season.
Cheatgrass is a great fire hazard. Cheatgrass follows fire, and fire follows cheat.
In some areas and under certain conditions, cheatgrass can be re- placed by better perennial forage through judicious management. Cheatgrass may improve a depleted site.
Cheatgrass could more properly be termed an “opportunist” rather than an “invader” from an ecological viewpoint.
It is difficult to convince the operator or manager to replace cheatgrass until a grass can be found that will
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furnish it comparable amount, of forage under similar conditions. This pointed to the need for research which would help solve for t,he operator the problems of how and why to deal wit,h cheatgrass.
On Friday afkrnoon, after a lunchcon and a pause for the accompanying group photograph, a short, business meeting was held. The next subject for discussion \ras “Revegetation of Grain-Lands and Aban- doned Croplnnds.” Two panels \rere formed: the first dealt T\-ith the nature and extent of the problem; the second dis- cussed tillage practices and seed pro- duction.
A. 15. M. Extension Service, were: 1. Wheat, may he a good crop on margi-
nal
cropland under the present price support program, hut much land now being cropped will hare to be abandoned or planted to grass when price supports are gone.2. In addition to price supports, big machinery is encouraging the con- tinuation of much of this land a~ wheatland.
3. Present FHA policies encourage diversification in farming, which indir&ly encourages the raising of grass.
4. Ranchers need more months of
The findings of the firs1 pnncl, which pasture on green grass ihsn are was composed of Rodney Tucker, Esten- furnished by winter wheat pastures sion Agronomist,, Colorado A. & >I.; and native sandhill pasture.
SCS, Albuquerque; and Harvey Harris, rancher, Sterling, conducted an interest- ing and informative round-table discus- sion on research findings in the revegeta- tion field, some recommended tillage practices, and the growing and collecting of grass seed.
On Saturday, November 19, a field tour was conducted with the object of showing the group some of these problems that had been under consideration. Pastures suffering different stages of infestation of cheatgrass as well as examples of artificial revegetation were seen.
NORMAN F. KEHMEIER
Student Member
Colorado A. &. M. College
NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS
This section was organized November
22, 1949, in Miles City, Montana, with
temporary officers: Chairman, Dan Ful- ton; Secretary-Treasurer, Tom I. Dudley. Officers elected for 1950 include : President Dan Fulton, rancher, Ismay, Montana; Vice-President Bruce Orcutt, rancher, Miles City; Secretary-Treasurer Tom I. Dudley, Bureau of Land Management, Miles City. Council members are Henry P. Holzman, Extension Service, South Dakota State College, Rapid City; Steve F. Hlebichuk, Production and Marketing Administration, Bismarck, N. D.; Leon C. Hurtt, U. S. Forest Service, Missoula, Montana; Floyd D. Larson, Bureau of Land Management, Billings, Montana ; J. A. Campbell, Alberta Department of Lands and Mines, Edmonton, Alberta. Publicity agent is David G. Rivenes, Soil Conservation Service, Miles City. The program presided over by Bruce Orcutt included talks by Dan Fulton, Melvin S. Morris, of the University of Montana, Treasurer of the national Society; Warren C. Whitman, Botany Department of North Dakota Agricultural College, and
Leslie R. Albee, Soil Conservation Serv- ice, Rapid City, South Dakota.
The Constitution and By-Laws of the Section were approved by the Council on January 9, at its meeting in San Antonio.
TOM I. DUDLEY
NORTHERN INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN The petition for organization of this new section, together with proposed con- stitution and by-laws, was approved by the Council, meeting in San Antonio on January 11. An organizational meeting is planned for late winter or early spring, as soon as roads open up and transportation by car becomes easier. All of British Columbia was tentatively included in the section, because a number of members in that province indicated their desire to affiliate with the Mountain Section. However, others may decide to affiliate with the Pacific Northwest Section. At present the membership in this mountain area is about 100 and is still growing. The organization of this section should in- crease the membership substantially.
TOM LOMMASSON U. S. Forest Service Missoula, Montana
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
This section was approved by the Council on November 2, 1949. It serves the States of Oregon and Washington and had 112 members as of December 22. In addition, members from British Columbia have indicated a desire to affiliate with this section.
146 WITH THE SECTIONS
Plans call for just one meeting a year, made sufficiently attractive so that the widely distributed membership will want to travel fairly long distances to attend. Interest is high at the present time. But the real test of the section will come in keeping interest high in the future and building up membership. To do this, it seems essential that the section do more than just sponsor meetings: it must have some concrete and specific goals to ac- complish that will either get range management into application or provide the essential tools.
JOSEPH F. PECHANEC
s TEXAS
Texas was the fourth section of the Society to become organized. Officers for 1949, all from Texas A. &. M., were: President Harold F. Heady, and Vice- President Robert R. Rhodes, both of the Range and Forestry Department; and Alfred H. Walker of the Extension Service.
The organization was completed in a business meeting in San Antonio, January 11, during the annual meeting of the parent Society. Approximately 75 section members were present. Xew Officers elected and installed are: President Harold F. Heady, Texas A. &. M. College; Vice-President John P. Classen, rancher, near San Antonio; and Secretary- Treasurer Horace L. Leithead, U. S. Soil Conservation Service, Marfa. The section voted to have annual dues of one dollar to cover mailing expenses and to finance other sectional activities. Publication of a news letter and efforts to increase interest and membership among stockmen will be some of the first activities. Inquiries con- cerning dues and other sectional affairs should be addressed to Secretary-Treas- erer H. L. Leithead.
HAROLD F. HE_~DY
UTAH
The organizational meeting of the American Society of Range Management, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 1948, gave considerable impetus to the Utah membership. At that time we boasted a state membership of around 100.
The Utah Section was organized at a meeting May 7, 1949, and the following temporary officers were elected : President Harold J. Burback, Bureau of Land Management, Salt Lake City; Vice- President David Holmgren, st o&man, Tremonton ; Secretary-Treasurer W. Harold Hirst, Bureau of Reclamation, Salt Lake City.
An excellent meeting was held in Salt Lake City, November 19, 1949, with 75 present. Dr. L. A. Stoddart, program committee chairman, had prepared an interesting and timely program on the topic “Economic Problems in Range Revegetation.” Round-table discussions were decidedly fruitful. The following officers were elected for 1950: President Dr. George Stewart, U. S. Forest Service, Ogden ; Vice-President Howard Clegg, rancher, Tooele ; Secretary-Treasurer Marcellus Palmer, private consultant, Salt Lake City.
Utah is justly pround of the number of its student memberships-most of which were secured through the efforts of Dr. L. A. Stoddart, of the Utah State Agricul- tural College. We definitely should en- courage students interested in range management and the younger members to play a most active part in the affairs of the Society. We oldsters can lend a guid- ing hand, and we don’t wish to discount mature judgment and experience but new, enthusiastic, and original approach to our Society problems will be the best as- surance of success.
WYOMING
We learned late in 1948 that ours was the first local section of the Society to be approved by the Council. The original officers, all from Laramie, were: President Louis E. Coughlin, U. S. Forest Service; Vice-President John A. Stevenson, rancher and state senator; Secretary Dr. John F. Reed, Botany Department, Uni- versity of Wyoming. Councilmen elected were : Donald Barnard, graduate student in Range Management, and Dr. Alan A. Beetle, Department of Agronomy at the University; Harold W. Cooper, U. S. Soil Conservation Service ; and Harry Olsen, rancher.
Membership in the section included 98 from the following organizations and fields of interest: ranchers, academic personnel-students, extension service workers, and faculty; U. S. Soil Conserva- tion Service, U. S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, State Fish and Game Commission, and the staff of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park..
Activities of the section have included the following: (1) Local meetings, with papers presented by students, faculty members, the Farm Editor of the Denver Post, local ranchers, and representatives of the Forest Service. These papers have been published and circulated to all members through the Wyoming Range
Management Series. (2) In cooperation with the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science, a symposium on range manage- ment at the annual meeting and at the academy meeting in May. (3) A very successful and well-attended field meeting conducted by Forest Ranger and Section President Louis Coughlin, in the Pole Mountain Division of the Medicine Bow National Forest. (4) Attendance of several members at the field days and inter- agency meetings of such organizations in our region as the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, the Archer Field Station of the University of Wyoming, and the Colorado Section of the Society.
The first annual meeting was held December 15, 1949, on the University campus, with election of the following officers: President State Senator John A. Stevenson Laramie ; Vice-President Edgar Reeves, U. S. Soil Conservation Service, Laramie; Secretary Dr. Alan A. Beetle, Department of Agronomy at the University. Councilmen elected were : Francis E. Warren, rancher, Cheyenne; Warren ,J. Allred, Wyoming Fish and Game Commission, Cheyenne; C. E. Williamson, graduate student in Range Management at the University; and Harold W. Cooper, Soil Conservation Service, Worland.
