SRM (March 9, 2015) – The 2015 Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Conference recently concluded in Sacramento, California. Held January 31-February 6, the annual conference served as host to a week-long forum for technical trainings, symposia, workshops and collaboration amongst the world's rangeland managers and professionals. With an audience upward of 1,500, this year's attendees included producers, private rangeland consultants, University Extension officers, federal and state agency employees, members of academia and representatives from the Society's international membership.
The conference began with a plenary session highlighted by Dr. Temple Grandin (Professor, Colorado State University) and featured a panel of speakers that showcased the diverse nature of California's rangelands. SRM President Pat Shaver commented on the overall scope of the meeting, “This year's conference highlighted the nuances of the host state and region and demonstrated how an ecosystem so varied in its make-up can speak to the larger issue at hand of addressing our world's rangelands. California's mix of governing bodies, land managers and the rangelands themselves served as a wonderful platform for the week's discussions.”
This year's conference hosted over 100 symposia, workshops and technical sessions and a full day dedicated to tours that took conference attendees to the field through workshops focused on drought, vegetation management, wild land and prescribed fire, targeted grazing and Ecological Site Descriptions.
In an effort to reach a growing audience of rangeland managers both in the U.S. and across the globe, the Society continued its effort to record and provide archived access to specific workshops and trainings during this year's meeting. The following workshops and trainings were recorded and will be available for archived use for the duration of the calendar year through the SRM website:
- NRCS Training: “Advanced Rangeland Evaluation and Management”
- Application of Ecological Site Descriptions to Management of Great Basin Rangelands
- Collaborative Adaptive Landscape Management (CALM) in Rangelands: Are There General Principles?
- Rangeland Hydraulic Processes, Predictions and Use in Ecological Site Descriptions
President Pat Shaver commented on the effort, “SRM continues to look for ways to broaden the audience and scope of work that the science and research from SRM members can reach and be applied. It is our job as a Society to ensure that best management practices are being utilized in rangeland practices across the globe and we will continue to build on this effort in order to reach as many individuals as possible. I look forward to continuing the conversation on this project in the coming year with our agency partners and through prospective industry collaborations.”
President Shaver concluded, “The year's annual meeting was a success in large part because of the information and research presented. I am confident that the 2016 SRM Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas will be another great platform by which to showcase the research and applicable science unique to rangeland management.”
For more information regarding the recorded workshops and trainings, please visit www.rangelands.org or contact Kelly Fogarty at kelly@wssdc.com.
Source: Society for Range Management
