USU club proves abilities at annual range competition
reputation at the same time.
Seven members of Utah State University’s Range Management Club participated in the 2006 Society for Range Management Annual Conference held last month in Vancouver, British Columbia.
John Reese, president of the USU Range Management Club placed second in the public speaking category. James Stuart, former president of the club, placed fifth in the same category. In addition, the team placed second overall in a poster competition.
“We’ve improved a lot from last year,” Stuart said. “We felt like we’re taking steps in the right direction.”
Other categories included plant identification, in which students had to identify specific range plants from their stems or roots.
“Range plant identification is very difficult,” Stuart said. “You’re not looking at full plants.” The competition also includes a two-hour test called the Undergraduate Range Management Exam that includes 127 questions on different areas of range management.
“Everything that we’ll learn here in the university in four years is put all together,” Stuart said.
Aside from participating, the competition provides an opportunity for USU students to interact with professionals in their field of study and receive hands-on experience, Reese said.
“The most beneficial thing of the conference is interacting with professionals,” Reese said. “The goal of it is basically to get students involved at a professional level.”
Stuart said he received 15 job offers while he was at the competition. Reese hopes they will be able to get 12-15 students to attend the competition next year in Reno, Nev. They have already begun raising money for it, he said.
In conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management, members of the club are cutting down juniper trees and selling the posts for about $5-$7. They already have 300 posted ordered, Reese said.
In addition, they will also be holding a symposium with a guest speaker and invite ranchers and government employees.
There are currently about 25 members of the club. Those interested in joining can attend a meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the atrium of the Natural Resources Building.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu