Annual/Termination Reports:

[04/23/2012] [06/24/2013] [08/29/2016] [05/21/2015] [10/14/2016]

Report Information

Participants

Harris, Norman UAF; Hutchinso, Barbara U AZ; Mashiri, Fadzayi U AZ; Merrigan, Sheila U AZ; Pfander, Pfander U AZ; Rahr, Matt U AZ; Ruyle, George U AZ; Schalau, Jeff U AZ; Torrey, Toby U AZ; Tolleson, Doug U AZ; George, Mel UC Davis; Harper, John UC Davis; Sheehy, Cody UC Davis; Level, Allison CSU; Thorne, Mark U HI; Roselle, Lovina U ID; Fick, Walter KSU; Olsen, Livia KSU; Frost, Rachel MSU; Mosley, Jeff MSU; Schultz, Brad NV Reno; Shannon, Amy NV Reno; Watkins, Cindy NMSU; Ganguli, Amy NDSU; Mason, Nicole NDSU; Marshall, Nancy SDSU; Reddy, Deva TAMU; McDonald, Alyson TAMU; Burritt, Beth USU; Palacios, Patsy USU; Kruger, David U WY; Mealor, Rachel U WY; Tanaka, John U WY (WERA 1008 Administrative Advisor); Pesce, Valeria FAO (Rome, Italy); Ayala, Felix Universidad de Sonora, Mexico; Xaba, Lucky Rhodes University, South Africa; Online attendees: Kawula, John UAF; Boden, Dana UN Lincoln; Borman, Mike OR St U; Hudson, Tip WA St U; Fraker-Marble, Merrita U WY; Taylor, John University of Queensland  Australia

Brief Summary of Minutes

Meeting was hosted by the University of Arizona. Next meeting is planned to be hosted by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Membership is working on Bylaw revisions for the Rangelands West Partnership. An online vote is expected prior to the 2013 meeting.

Mark Thorne, Chair, Rangelands West Partnership, opened the meeting, followed by a welcome from Dr. Shane Burgess, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at the University of Arizona. The morning agenda includeda review of RWP activities during the past year (presentations and meetings at the 2012 SRM Annual Meeting, updates on grant-funded projects -eXtension Rangelands, RSIS, HEC/Rangelands Education; CEAP; ISE Global Rangelands, etc). Dr. Jeff Silvertooth, Associate Dean for Economic Development and Director, Arizona Cooperative Extension at the University of Arizona CALS, gave a brief welcome to attendees. Richard Collins (Arizona rancher, Canelo Hills Coalition) gave a presentation The Land Ethic and Limits for Grazing in Red Rock Canyon. Felix Ayala (University of Sonora, Mexico) and Valeria Pesce (FAO/GFAR) gave updates on their institutions for an international perspective. A virtual online presentation was given by John Taylor, President of the Australian Rangelands Society. State updates from members followed. Rangelands West Trailblazer awards were presented to Mel George, UC-Davis and Carla Stoffle, Dean of the UA Libraries for their many contributions to the work of the Partnership.

A hands-on workshop was presented by Matt Rahr and Toby Torrey on data input for the Rangelands West portal. This was followed with break-out sessions on RW state site maintenance & support options, including Az IT support and the LibGuides approach. Cody Sheehy gave a lunchtime presentation on his documentary film work in Australia and Mongolia. There were presentations and discussion on new approaches to fundraising (George Ruyle  AZ) and the use of social media tools in Extension (Sheila Merrigan  AZ).

Task Force for Hot Topics Development & Maintenance - Amy Ganguli - ND, Lovina Roselle - ID, Rachel Frost - MT, Fadzayi Mashiri - AZ, Nicole Mason - ND

Task Force for finding quick and easy method to incorporate records for agricultural experiment station repositories - Allison Level - CO and Matt Rahr - AZ

Task Force for Recruiting Canadian institutions into RW/GR - Barb Hutchinson - AZ and Amy Ganguli - ND

Task Force for Revised Bylaws for RWP (Finalize revision and Bring for Vote) - Jeanne Pfander - AZ, Rachel Mealor - WY, Dave Kruger - WY, Amy Shannon - NV, Walt Fick - KS, Mark Thorne - HI, Jeff Mosley - MT

Accomplishments

Successful annual meeting of the Rangelands West Partnership (May 2011, Bozeman, MT). attendees (25 on-site; 4 virtual attendees) representing 16 U.S. states and Australia<br /> <br /> Convened a half-day symposium at the Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Spokane, WA<br /> <br /> Developed two peer reviewed papers<br /> <br /> Progress on several grants received by different RWP partners for rangelands information projects <br /> <br /> * USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant - Repositioning Rangeland Education for a Changing World (University of Idaho, Humboldt State University, New Mexico State University, Oklahoma State University, South Dakota State University, University of California-Davis and Utah State University)<br /> <br /> * USDA-NIFA International Science and Education Global Rangelands Project (AZ, CA, ID, South Africa, Australia, FAO)<br /> <br /> * Range Science Information System Project (WY, ID, MT)<br /> <br /> * RWP members contributing to eXtension Rangelands Community of Practice<br /> <br /> Significant progress on technical requirements and design for new Global Rangelands site and the existing Rangelands West site. <br />

Publications

Hutchinson, B., J. Pfander, J. Tanaka, and J. Clark. 2011. Rangelands West/Global Rangelands, eXtension Rangelands, and the Range Science Information System: a suite of new web resources. Rangelands 33(4):55-63.<br /> <br /> John Tanaka, Barbara Hutchinson, Merrita Fraker-Marble, Rachel Frost, Karen Launchbaugh, and Mel George. In Press. Using Rangelands on the Web as a Teaching Resource. Rangelands.

Impact Statements

1. Increased quality of rangeland information and resources to meet the needs of a broad range of users and audiences from around the world.
2. Improved navigation and accessibility of desired information through the redesigned Rangelands West/Global Rangelands website.
3. Creation of user-oriented services based on direct input from diverse audiences through formal needs assessments.
4. Strengthened relationships among rangeland professionals, librarians, and information specialists in each Western state through improved communications resulting in greater sharing of information and content development.
5. Development of standardized methods for metadata, incorporating input from the Western Rangelands Partners, FAO, and other interested stakeholders. The metadata for significant rangelands resources will then be input into the new portal.
6. Identification of Western Rangeland Partnership university institutional repositories with relevant rangeland resources that could also be made available through Global Rangelands for additional access.
7. Increased use and exposure of the Rangelands West website, and state rangelands websites to the global community.
8. Significant steps taken toward the achievement of the primary vision of Rangelands West/Global Rangelands as the premier website for dissemination of scientifically-based printed information on rangeland ecology and management.

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Report Information

Participants

Harris, Norman (ffnrh@uaf.edu) - Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks
Kawula, John (john.k@alaska.edu) - Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks
Kuden, Jodee (jlkuden@uaa.alaska.edu) - Univ. of Alaska, Anchorage
Hutchinson, Barbara (barbarah@cals.arizona.edu)- Univ. of Arizona
Merrigan, Sheila (merrigan@ag.arizona.edu) - Univ. of Arizona
Pfander, Jeanne (pfanderj@u.library.arizona.edu) - Univ. of Arizona
Rahr, Matt (matt@ag.arizona.edu) - Univ. of Arizona
Thorne, Mark (thornem@hawaii.edu) - University of Hawaii
Kenyon, Jeremy (jkenyon@uidaho.edu) - University of Idaho
Roselle, Lovina (lovina@uidaho.edu)- University of Idaho
Fick, Walter (wfick@ksu.edu)- Kansas State Univ.
Olsen, Livia (livia@k-state.edu) - Kansas State Univ.
Frost, Rachel (frost@montana.edu)- Montana State Univ.
Schultz, Brad (schultzb@unce.unr.edu)  Univ. of Nevada Reno
Shannon, Amy (ashannon@unr.edu) Univ. of Nevada Reno
Mason, Nicole (nicole.k.mason@ndsu.edu) - North Dakota State Univ.
Zou, Chris (chris.zou@okstate.edu) - Oklahoma State Univ.
Borman, Mike (michael.borman@oregonstate.edu) - Oregon State Univ.
Kruger, David (tseliot@uwyo.edu) - Univ. of Wyoming
Mealor, Rachel (rdmealor@uwyo.edu) - Univ. of Wyoming
Tanaka, Ann (atanaka@uwyo.edu) - Univ. of Wyoming
Tanaka, John (jtanaka@uwyo.edu) - Univ. of Wyoming(WERA 1008 Administrative Advisor)
Taylor, John (taylamob@tpg.com.au) - Australian Rangeland Society (Queensland, Australia)
Ayala, Felix (fayala@santana.uson.mx) - Universidad de Sonora, Mexico

Virtual / Online attendees:
Tolleson, Doug (dougt@cals.arizona.edu) - Univ. of Arizona
Sheehy, Cody (jconley816@gmail.com) - Contractor with Univ of California, Davis
Harper, John (jmharper@ucdavis.edu) - Univ. of California, Davis
Level, Allison (alevel@library.colostate.edu) - Colorado State Univ.
Boden, Dana W. R. (dboden1@unl.edu) - Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln
Watkins, Cindy (cwatkins@lib.nmsu.edu) - New Mexico State Univ.
McDonald, Alyson (alysonkmcdonald@tamu.edu) - Texas A&M Univ.
Burritt, Beth (beth.burritt@usu.edu) - Utah State Univ.
Hudson, Tip (hudsont@wsu.edu) - Washington State Univ.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Annual Business Meeting (Summary), 13 May 2013:

Chair Report Jeanne Pfander (AZ) opened the business meeting; thanked the Alaska team for successful meeting arrangements; acknowledged the University of Alaska-Anchorage Libraries for providing lunch meals and snacks during breaks.
Secretary/Treasurer Report  David Kruger (WY) reported that he had compiled and submitted annual meeting minutes and report for WERA, throughout year helped organize and keep notes of conference calls for Executive Committee / Steering Team and sent out email communications to membership through listserv.

2014 annual meeting:
California will host the annual meeting in 2014 (exact date to be determined). Incoming Vice- Chair David Kruger (WY) will send the planning document for hosting Rangelands Partnership (RP) meetings to John Harper (CA).

Governance / Executive Committee:
Jeanne Pfander (AZ) was honored for her service as Chair and rotated to Past-Chair. Rachel Mealor (WY) moved into Chair position and David Kruger (WY) rotated to Vice-Chair. Beth Burritt (UT) was elected by unanimous acclaim and welcomed as 2013/2014 Secretary/Treasurer for RP.

Bylaws Revision: A discussion was held regarding the proposed revised RP Bylaws for the partnership (sent out by email to the membership on 12 April 2013). The membership unanimously approved the new bylaws.

General Meeting Notes (RP Annual Meeting, March 12-14, 2012, Anchorage/Palmer, AK)

An informal reception was held the evening of Sunday, May 12, with a guest lecture provided by Dr. Greg Finstad, Program Manager of UAF Reindeer Research and Associate Professor of Range Ecology.

On Monday, 13 May 2013, Jeanne Pfander (AZ), the Chair of the Rangelands West Partnership, opened the 2013 meeting in Anchorage, followed by a welcome from Norm Harris, range professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and Jodee Kuden, librarian at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. The morning agenda included a review of RP activities during the past year (presentations and meetings at the 2013 Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meeting and a Memorandum of Agreement between SRM and Allen Press, updates on grant-funded projects, particularly the Conservation Effects Assessment Project, and a report from the SRM Outreach, Communications and Website Committee). The rest of the morning was occupied by additional project reports for eXtension Rangelands, Range Science Information System (RSIS), Higher Education Challenge Grant (HEC), and a range multimedia site called Wrangle.com. Barb Hutchinson then unveiled the new Global Rangelands / Rangelands West Knowledge System.

In the afternoon, international partners John Taylor (Australian Rangelands Society) and Felix Ayala (University of Sonora, Mexico) gave updates for their respective organizations. State updates from RP members (11 on site, 6 virtual) followed. The Business Meeting (see above) closed out the afternoon agenda of the first day of the meeting.

The second day of the meeting (Tuesday, 14 May 2013) began with an update on the Partnership Member site, a non-public site with useful information exclusively for RP members. Other updates involved RPs integration of Social Media applications, Multimedia applications, and improvement of Search Rankings, as well as new developments, feedback, and next steps for the Global Rangelands and Rangelands West websites. Attendees then participated in a hands-on workshop involving the new Rangelands West data entry system for adding records to the Global Rangelands and Rangelands West database. That workshop was followed by concurrent working meetings for subgroups involving state websites hosted by Arizona; eXtension; LibGuides; and adding additional records to the database.
The meeting was then relocated to the Matanuska Research Farm. Guest speaker Dr. Talis Colberg, former Alaska Attorney General and current Director of UAA MatSu College, provided an interesting talk about the history of agricultural experiment stations in Alaska, as well as the immense agricultural and sociological changes in the Matanuska Valley over the past thirty years.
Attendees participated in a facilitated discussion about Hot Topics Sections on the website; Multimedia applications; and State site issues. The facilitated discussion was followed by a brainstorming session on future initiatives for the organization. After the brainstorming session, the final agenda item was a strategic action planning session for the next year, identifying 4 crucial activities and attendees who would support task forces to accomplish them.

Assignments from the action planning session were as follows:

" Task Force for Digital Repository Harvesting - Jeremy Kenyon  ID (coordinator), Walt Fick  KS, David Kruger  WY, Jeanne Pfander  AZ

" Task Force for Hot Topics Development & Maintenance - Nicole Mason - ND (coordinator), Kelly Arizmendi  AZ, Rachel Frost - MT, Amy Ganguli - NM, Rachel Mealor  WY, Lovina Roselle - ID, Barb Hutchinson  AZ (technology mediator)

" Task Force for International Partner Recruiting and Content Development - Barb Hutchinson  AZ (coordinator), Amy Ganguli  NM, John Kawula - AK

" Task Force for Marketing Rangelands West Partnership Databases - Amy Shannon  NV (coordinator), Rachel Frost  MT, Rachel Mealor - WY, Mark Thorne - HI, Barb Hutchinson  AZ (contributor)

Incoming Chair Rachel Mealor (WY) then adjourned the meeting

The third day of the meeting (Wednesday, 15 May 2013) incorporated an optional post-conference tour of the Matanuska Valley around Palmer, including tours of the Reindeer Farm, Alaska Plant Materials Center, Musk Ox Farm, Moose Range, and Independence Mine State Historical Park. Dr. Norm Harris (AK) hosted the tour, with assistance from Dr. William Collins.

Accomplishments

Short-term Outcomes - Successful meeting among partners and redesign of several websites. Working with a group of educators that received a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant on "Repositioning Rangeland Education for a Changing World."<br /> <br /> Outputs - Development and redesign of rangelandswest.org, globalrangelands.org, rangescience.info, and several state rangelands websites. eXtension Rangelands website was publically launched.<br /> <br /> Activities - Conducted workshop at Society for Range Management annual meeting, participated in a special issue of Rangelands magazine.<br /> <br /> Presentations:<br /> Hutchinson, Barbara. 2013. From Local to Global: Launching the New Rangelands West Portals and Database. Society for Range Management Oklahoma City, OK February 4, 2013.<br /> <br /> Hutchinson, Barbara. 2013. Building Global Access to Sustainable Rangeland Management Resources for Research, Teaching, & Extension. International Science and Education Program Washington D.C., May 7, 2013.<br /> <br /> Milestones - Finish redesign of the Rangelands West portal including a new technical architecture to accommodate user-requested functionality and incorporate social media tools to encourage increased user-engagement; Continue to build and expand unique state rangelands websites with locally-specific content - with access provided also through the Global Rangelands repository search function and from the home page of Rangelands-West/Global Rangelands; Build a global repository of full-text rangeland science and management resources (Global Rangelands) in cooperation with rangeland-related organizations and associations from around the world; Strengthen connections between Rangelands West/Global Rangelands, eXtension Rangelands, and the Range Science Education Councils resources and services, and continue their complementary development; Reestablish connections with AgNIC database as soon as we have a working Global Rangelands/R.W. database that can be harvested; Approve revised bylaws for the organization; Streamlining task forces to ensure productive responses<br />

Publications

Tanaka, J., B. Hutchinson, M. Fraker-Marble, R. Frost, K. Launchbaugh, and M. George. 2012. Using rangeland on the web as a teaching resource. Rangelands 34:39-40.<br /> <br /> Hutchinson, B. and G. Ruyle. 2013. Rangeland Management at Your Finger Tips: Introducing three new websites. The Rimrock Report 6(1):1-3.<br />

Impact Statements

1. Activity: Increased quality of rangeland information and resources to meet the needs of a broad range of users and audiences from around the world.
2. Milestone: Improved navigation and accessibility of desired information through the redesigned Rangelands West/Global Rangelands website.
3. Milestone: Creation of user-oriented services based on direct input from diverse audiences through formal needs assessments.
4. Activity: Strengthened relationships among rangeland professionals, librarians, and information specialists in each Western state through improved communications resulting in greater sharing of information and content development.
5. Milestone: Development of standardized methods for metadata, incorporating input from the Western Rangelands Partners, FAO, and other interested stakeholders. The metadata for significant rangeland resources will then be input into the new portal.
6. Milestone: Identification of Western Rangelands Partnership university institutional repositories with relevant rangeland resources that could also be made available through Global Rangelands for additional access.
7. Indicators: Increased use and exposure of the Rangelands West website, and state rangelands websites to the global community.
8. Activities: Significant steps taken toward the achievement of the primary vision of Rangelands West/Global Rangelands as the premier website for dissemination of scientifically-based printed information on rangeland ecology and management.
9. The Rangelands West, Global Rangelands, and several state sites have been visited by 9,171 unique visitors with 54,241 pageviews and an average visit duration of over 4 minutes from Oct. 1 2012 to June 26, 2013.

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Report Information

Participants

Norman Harris, AK;
John Kawula, AK;
Jodee Kuden, AK;
Barbara Hutchinson, AZ;
Sheila Merrigan, AZ;
Sarah Noelle, AZ;
Jeanne Pfander, AZ;
Matt Rahr, AZ;
Cody Sheehy, AZ;
Mel George, CA;
John Harper, CA;
Mark Thorne, HI;
Jeremy Kenyon, ID;
Lovina Roselle, ID;
Walter Fick, KS;
Livia Olsen, KS;
Mike Borman, OR;
Brad Schultz, NV;
Amy Shannon, NV;
Amy Ganguli, NM;
Cynthia Watkins, NM;
Nicole Mason, ND;
Reddy Deva, TX;
Beth Burritt, UT;
David Kruger, WY;
Ann Tanaka, WY;
John Tanaka, WY
Jocelyn Boice, CO;
Rachel Frost, MT;
Dana Boden, NE;
Pat Johnson, SD;
Alyson McDonald, TX
John Taylor, Australian Rangeland Society (Queensland, Australia)

Brief Summary of Minutes

Beth Burritt (UT) reported that she would compile and submit annual meeting minutes and report for WERA. She also thanked David Kruger (WY) for all his help sending out the announcements for the California Meeting including the agenda. Our current balance is $13,314.93.

We have a surplus of funds of $3000 to $3500 dollars to use for the Rangelands Partnership. A discussion followed on how to use the funds. It was decided that funds would be available for a variety of items to support the partnership. Funds will be distributed via mini-grants. The Executive Council will draft guidelines for proposals. This year funds will be used to cover part of the travel for Barbara Hutchinson to travel to South Africa to get them involved with the RP.

Review of the 2013 Action Plan: At the 2013 meeting several Task Force groups were formed. Reports from these groups were given from Jeremy Kenyon on Digital Repository Harvesting, Nicole Mason on Hot Topics Development & Maintenance, Barb Hutchinson on International Partner Recruiting and Content Development and Amy Shannon on Marketing Rangelands West Partnership Databases.

Future Annual Meetings:

New Mexico will host the annual meeting in 2015 (exact date to be determined). Utah will host the 2016 meeting.

 Governance / Executive Committee:

David Kruger (WY) moved into Chair position and Beth Burritt (UT) rotated to Vice-Chair. Nicole Mason (ND) was elected by unanimous acclaim and welcomed as 2013/2014 Secretary- Treasurer for RWP.

On Monday, 24 March 2014, David Kurger (WY), the Vice-Chair of the Rangelands West Partnership (RWP), opened the 2014 meeting in Davis, CA. Rachel Mealor Chair of the RWP was unable to attend the meeting due to health reasons. The meeting opening was followed by a welcome from John Harper UCCE Farm Advisor and Mel George, Emeritus Professor from UC Davis.

The morning agenda included a review of RWP activities during the past year including updates and reports on: 1) the MOA between SRM and Allen Press, 2) the SRM Outreach, Communications and Website Committee, 3) the Range Science Information System (RSIS), 4) Higher Education Challenge Grant (HEC), 5) a Rangelands multimedia site called Wrangle, 6) the proposed Phase 2 of Global Rangelands/Rangelands West website redesign and 7) the Rangelands eXtension optimization grant.

We received a $50,000 grant from USDA/NIFA to conduct focus groups on use of social media by end users of the web-site, to become more actively involved in social media based on focus groups and to better integrate Global Rangelands, Rangelands West and the eXtension Rangelands Community of Practice.

In the afternoon, international partner John Taylor gave a report on the Australian Rangelands Society. Felix Ayala from University of Hermosilla, Mexico was unable to make a report because they were on strike. Barb Hutchinson gave a report on possible collaborations with South   Africa, Canada, and FAO. State updates from RWP members (13 on site, 5 virtual) followed. The Business Meeting (see above) closed out the afternoon agenda of the first day of the meeting.

The second day of the meeting (Tuesday, 25 March 2014), Ann Tanaka gave us an update on the Partnership Member only site. The site is non-public site with useful information exclusively for RWP members.

Last year’s meeting resulted in the Rangeland Partnership becoming more involved in social media. RW now has an active Facebook page; Youtube channel for the global rangelands site. Jeanne posts a relevant article on Scoop-it daily. John Harper has a blog. We discussed better use of other social media outlet such as twitter, linkedin and pinterest.

After the morning break and again after lunch, attendees participated in facilitated working group meetings on the following topics: 1) Hot Topics Development & Maintenance, 2) Adding Ag Experiment Station Records into GR/RW Database, 3) International Partner Recruiting and Content Development, 4) Marketing RWP Databases, 5) Social media, 6) GR/RW site design, and

Meeting was adjourned by David Kruger.

 

Accomplishments

<ul><br /> <li>Successful annual meeting of the Rangelands West Partnership (March 2013, Palmer, AK) attendees (23 on-site; 9 virtual attendees) representing 17 S. states, Australia, and Mexico.</li><br /> <li>Successful redesign of several state Rangelands West</li><br /> <li>Full integration of Wrangle site into Global Rangelands (videos and gigapans)</li><br /> <li>Progress on several grants received by different RWP partners for rangelands information projects<br /> <ul><br /> <li>USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant - Repositioning Rangeland Education for a Changing World (University of Idaho, Humboldt State University, New Mexico State University, Oklahoma State University, South Dakota State University, University of California-Davis and Utah State University)</li><br /> <li>Received a $50,000 grant to expand the use of social media of the eXtension Rangelands Community of Practice Site. And to integrate with Global Rangelands and Rangelands</li><br /> </ul><br /> </li><br /> <li>New MOA between Allen Press and Society for Range Management for open access for two journals: Rangelands and Rangeland Ecology and Management</li><br /> <li>Western Extension and Research Activities (WERA) status renewal documentation approved.</li><br /> </ul>

Publications

<p>Rangelands Partnership. 2014. Global Rangelands website. <a href="http://globalrangelands.org">http://globalrangelands.org.</a></p><br /> <p>Rangelands Partnership. 2014. Rangelands West website. <a href="http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest">http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest.</a></p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Impact Statements

1. Funding received by Barb Hutchinson and Beth Burritt from the NIFA Renewable Resources Extension Act National Focus Funds in the amount of $50,000 for 2 years.

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Report Information

Participants

Harris, Norm (ffnrh@uaf.edu) - UAF; Kuden, Jodee (jlkuden@uaa.alaske.edu) - UAA; Bernau, Chris (cbernau@cals.arizona.edu), Dalke, Amber (adalke@email.arizona.edu), Hutchinson, Barb (barbarah@ag.arizona.edu), Noelle, Sarah (smnoelle@email.arizona.edu), Pfander, Jeanne (pfanderj@u.library.arizona.edu), Ruyle George (gruyle@ag.arizona.edu) - UAZ; Harper, John (jmharper@ucanr.edu) - UC Davis; Thorne, Mark (thornem@hawaii.edu) - UH; Kenyon, Jeremy (jkenyon@uidaho.edu), Roselle, Lovina (lovina@uidaho.edu) - UI; Fick, Walt (whfick@ksu.edu), Olsen, Livia (livia@ksu.edu) – KSU; Mason, Nicole (nicole.k.mason@ndsu.edu) – NDSU; Ganguli, Amy (ganguli@nmsu.edu), Abbott, Laurie (abbott@nmsu.edu), Watkins, Cindy (cwatkins@lib.nmsu.edu) – NMSU; Borman, Mike (Michael.Borman@oregonstate.edu) – OrSU; Marshall, Nancy – SDSU; Burritt, Beth (beth.burritt@usu.edu), Palacios, Patsy (patsy.palacios@usu.edu) – USU; Keto, David (dketo@uwyo.edu), Kruger, David (tseliot@uwyo.edu), Mealor, Rachel (rdmealor@uwyo.edu), Tanaka, John (jtanaka@uwyo.edu) – Uwyo; Taylor, John (john.a.taylor10@gmail.com) – Australia; Boice, Jocelyn (Jocelyn.boice@colostate.edu) – CSU; Boden, Dana (dboden1@unl.edu) – UNL; Shannon, Amy (ashannon@unr.edu) – UNR

Brief Summary of Minutes

On Monday, 23 March 2015, David Kruger (WY), the Chair of the Rangelands West Partnership (RWP) opened the 2015 meeting in Las Cruces, NM. The opening was followed by a welcome from Amy Ganguli, Assistant Professor of Range Science at NMSU. The morning agenda included a review of RWP activities during the past year. In particular: attendance and booth/poster participation at SRM and NCBA/Cattle Industry Convention meetings; working on a new MOA between SRM and Elsevier; updates on grant-funded projects (particularly the Higher Education Challenge Grant); and a report form the SRM Outreach, Communications and Website Committee.

Additional project reports were about: Range at a Distance, Teaching Clearinghouse, Wrangle, Range Science Information System (RSIS), Renewable Resources Extension Act Grant, and eXtension. Amber Dalke (AZ) reported on the website redesign for Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and state websites hosted by the Arizona team. These were followed by reports on international partnerships. Barbara Hutchinson reported on partnership activities with South Africa (Grasslands Society of Southern Africa), FAO (Open Access/Open Data Collaboration opportunities) and Mexico (University of Hermosillo). John Taylor, Queensland, Australia, attended virtually to provide updates on our partnership with the Australia Rangelands Society. This was followed by state reports (12 on site and 3 virtual) and the business meeting closed out the afternoon agenda of the first day of the meeting.

The second day of the meeting (Tuesday, 24 March 2015) began with a report on RWP social media by Sheila Merrigan (AZ). We are currently active on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Scoop.it. Sheila provided some stats for each account covering a three month period. There were more detailed presentations on ways to evaluate impact of our social media outreach, using Scoop.it newsletters for engagement and communication among RWP members, and the V Bar V Range Rocks program (AZ). The remainder of the morning included a demonstration of adding state resources to the database and concurrent working groups for task forces and other activities.

The second half of day two started with a facilitated discussion on sustainability for RWP. We discussed what would happen if the RWP didn’t exist (no Global Rangelands or Rangelands West websites, database, or access to JRM, REM, Rangelands, and Australian Rangelands Journal). We also discussed what we do together that none of us can do alone (accomplishing work with synergy, limit duplication, share ideas, apply for competitive grants, provide subject matter expertise on a variety of rangelands topics, put rangelands on the map, and provide a global central repository).

The remainder of the sustainability conversation was about funding needs and opportunities. RWP needs at least $25,000 per year to stay sustainable. The main funding opportunity discussed was member dues. The resulting action item was for members (John Tanaka, Barb Hutchinson, and Nancy Marshall volunteered) to contact their regional association of agricultural experiment station directs to inquire about the possibility of meeting with them to discuss the importance of what we do. Once an avenue of communication has been opened, all members will speak with their deans about the possibility of paying dues. We would be asking for $1,000 from agricultural deans and $1,000 from library deans.

The day finished out with reports from the working group session. The Repository Harvesting task force created a list of questions for members to consider during the harvesting process and they will make them available to the group. The International Partner Recruiting and Content Development task force had identified members with international contacts and have defined a process for approaching possible partners. The Members Site group reported on changes to the members’ website and requested that members submit documents and photographs from conference and other RWP events. The Marketing and Public Relations task force (1) announced plans to start an Instagram account for all members to post to, (2) urged members to participate in our social media activity, and (3) suggested some strategies on how to raise awareness. Lastly, the General Topics Summaries group reported that topics have been assigned and the deadline will be sent out with the idea that they will be completed before the redesign goes live.

Challenges of the Past Year:
• Another redesign project for Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and state sites.
• Continue to build and expand unique state rangelands websites with locally-specific content - with access provided also through the Global Rangelands repository search function and from the home page of Rangelands-West/Global Rangelands.
• Build a global repository of full-text rangeland science and management resources ("Global Rangelands") in cooperation with rangeland-related organizations and associations from around the world.
• Strengthen connections between Rangelands West/Global Rangelands, eXtension Rangelands, and the range Science Education Council's resources and services, and continue their complimentary development.
• Reestablish connections with AgNIC database as soon as we have a working Global Rangelands/Rangelands West database that can be harvest.
• Streamlining task forces to ensure productive responses.

In Process / Next Step Activities:
• HEC grant: finish migrating Wrangle to Drupal; add resources to Teaching Clearinghouse.
• Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA) Grant: create videos present varying perspectives of controversial issues in range and to gather information/local knowledge.
• Continue with required tasks for eXtension Rangelands and harvest information already contributed.
• Apply redesign to Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and state sites and market to increase use.
• Contact agricultural experiment station directors and library deans for membership dues and look for other funding opportunities for sustainability of RWP.
• Harvesting institutional repository records: create a tool kit for members.
• International collaboration: members (Amy Ganguli, Chris Bernau, Mark Thorne, and Beth Burritt) will reach out to their contacts in Mongolia, New Zealand, China, Britain, and Israel.
• Marketing: members continue to contribute to social media efforts; Move forward with idea to create video for marketing Global Rangelands and Rangelands West websites; and other efforts (international year of range, consistent hashtag).
• General Topic Summaries: write summaries by deadline (before redesign goes live).

Accomplishments

• Successful annual meeting of the Rangelands West Partnership (March 2015, Las Cruces, NM). Attendees (27 on-site; 6 virtual) representing 15 U.S. states, and Australia.<br /> • Redesign of Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and state websites with mock-ups presented for feedback.<br /> • Progress on several grants received by different RWP partners for rangelands information projects.<br /> • USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant (HEC) - successful maintenance and updating of Range at a Distance repository of distance accessible courses on range topics; developed Teaching Clearinghouse as a space for sharing tools and resources for range teaching professionals (no resources yet and in Beta mode); additions to Careers & Education section of Rangelands West website, and analytics showing increased use.<br /> • NIFA Optimization grant to University of Arizona. Focus groups and social media progress.<br /> • NIFA Renewal Resources Extension Act Grant - "Discovering Our National Rangelands" proposal was awarded to the University of Wyoming and the University of Arizona for $200,000. Purpose is to record local knowledge videos, different perspectives on controversial issues videos, introduction videos for eXtension rangelands and Rangelands West websites, and support an episode of Out on the Land, a conservation oriented show on RFD-TV.<br /> • Established new MOA with Society for Range Management and Elsevier to incorporate the Journal of Rangeland Management (10 year rolling window) and Rangelands (5 year rolling window, and increase from the previous MOA of 3 years) into the database.<br /> • Finished digitizing the Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference Proceedings from 1-17.<br /> • Made stronger connections between Rangelands West/Global Rangelands, eXtension Rangelands, and the Range Science Education Council's resources and services.<br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Increased quality of rangeland information and resources to meet the needs of a broad range of users and audiences from around the world.
2. Improved navigation and accessibility of desired information through the redesigned Rangelands West/Global Rangelands Website.
3. Creation of user-oriented services based on direct input from diverse audiences through formal needs assessments.
4. Strengthened relationships among rangeland professionals, librarians, and information specialists in each Western state through improved communications resulting in greater sharing of information and content development.
5. Development of standardized methods for metadata, incorporating input from the Western Rangelands Partners, FAO, and other interested stakeholders. The metadata for significant rangelands resources will then be input into the new portal.
6. Identification of Western Rangelands Partnership university institutional repositories with relevant rangeland resources that could also be made available through Global rangelands for additional access.
7. Increased use and exposure of the Rangelands West website, and state rangelands websites to the global community.
8. Significant steps taken toward the achievement of the primary vision of Rangelands West/Global Rangelands as the premier website for dissemination of scientifically-based printed information on rangeland ecology and management.
9. In 2014 the Global Rangelands website had 26,442 users and 79,205 pageviews with an average session duration of 2 minutes and 19 seconds. Users were from the United States (43%), India (5%), Canada (4%), United Kingdom (4%), and Australia (3%) with the remainder from at least 95 other countries.

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Report Information

Participants

Participants in the 2016 annual meeting:
Jodee Kuden - University of Alaska Anchorage
Amber Dalke - University of Arizona
Barb Hutchinson - University of Arizona
Sheila Merrigan - University of Arizona
Sarah Noelle - University of Arizona
Jeanne Pfander - University of Arizona
John Harper - University of California Davis
Retta Bruegger - Colorado State University
Mark Thorne - University of Hawaii
Lovina Englund - University of Idaho
Jeremy Kenyon - University of Idaho
Walt Fick - Kansas State University
Livia Olsen - Kansas State University
Nicole Juve - North Dakota State University
Amy Shannon - University of Nevada Reno
Mike Borman - Oregon State University
Beth Burritt - Utah State University
Tip Hudson - Washington State University
David Kruger - University of Wyoming
Kristie Maczko - University of Wyoming
Derek Scasta - University of Wyoming
Ann Tanaka - University of Wyoming
John Tanaka - University of Wyoming

Brief Summary of Minutes

General Meeting Notes (RP Annual Meeting, March 20-23, 2016, Kailua-Kona, HI)

An evening reception was held on Sunday, March 20, 2016 where John Tanaka, WERA 1008 Administrative Advisor, welcomed the group. Local host and rangeland extension specialist, Mark Thorne, with the University of Hawaii, Manoa, organized a social followed by an optional luau.

On Monday, March 21, 2016, Beth Burritt (UT), the Chair of the Rangelands Partnership (RP) opened the 2016 meeting on the Hawaii Community College Palamanui Campus. The opening was followed by a welcome from Mark Thorne (HI) and introduction of special guests and colleagues, including Dr. Mary Fletcher, director of the local campus.

The morning agenda included a review of RWP activities during the past year. Partnership members who attended the 2016 Society for Range Management (SRM) annual meeting in Corpus Christi, TX reported on trade show activity and poster session viewing and summarized the joint meeting with the SRM Outreach, Communication, and Website committee to discuss the proposal of a UN designated International Year of Rangelands. The discussion then turned to updates on collaborative grant-funded projects (e.g. NIFA-funded grants). John Tanaka and Sarah Noelle screened new videos from the “Discovering Our Nation’s Rangelands” project (NIFA Grant: 2014-46401-2259) which focuses on video stories that capture local knowledge from landowners and rangeland resource professionals. Lovina Englund reported on the end of grant cycle deliverables for projects related to the Higher Education Challenge Grant program (NIFA Grant: 2010-01828), spearheaded by the Range Science Education Council. The RP served a pivotal role is hosting websites and linking content in the GR database, including Rangeland Teaching Clearinghouse (http://rangelandswest.org/teachingclearinghouse/), Range at a Distance (http://rangelandswest.org/coursecatalog/), Rangeland College Recruiting (http://rangelandswest.org/careersandeducation/), and migration of the Wrangle website (http://wrangle.org) over to the new GR web platform. Other reports were made from former grant projects, with discussions of sustainability and maintenance into the future.

The afternoon session included discussion of international rangelands activities. Jeanne Pfander (AZ) and Jodee Kuden (AK) traveled to the Australian Rangelands Society meeting in Alice Springs, NT held April 12-16, 2015. While there, they promoted the GR website which now is the digital repository for the Rangelands Journal, a publication of the society, while deepening the connections with colleagues and soliciting opportunities for future partnerships. Other international updates were provided by Retta Bruegger (CO) who overviewed the Mongolian Rangelands and Resilience Project spearheaded by RP member Dr. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez at Colorado State University (http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/mor2-home) and funded by NSF, World Bank, USAID, and other foundation and collaborative supporters. Lastly, Partnership members involved in the effort to support a resolution for a designation of an International Year of Rangelands provided an update on progress and plans over the coming months. Barbara Hutchinson has been having extensive conversations with partners in partner organizations. Lovina Englund (ID) will serve as executive committee representative at the International Rangeland Congress, July 17-23 in Saskatoon, AB Canada to support further progress of this effort. The afternoon session rounded out with each state representative in attendance providing a brief update on their state websites. Updates included website usage analytics and various range related projects, publications and events. We welcomed several new rangeland professional members including Derek Scasta (WY), Kristie Maczko (WY), Tip Hudson (WA), and Retta Bruegger (CO). The annual business meeting was held prior to closing the Monday session. Programming and web design team members, (AZ) Matt Rahr and Craig Boesewetter, participated remotely to provide an update on the new GR website, launched just a few weeks before. Several partner members had already begun using the new state website templates available to them.

Tuesday morning (March 22, 2016) included a number of sessions. Ann Tanaka (WY) provided an update on the RP member website that serves as a repository of information and documents held by the member partners for purposes of doing business. Sheila Merrigan (AZ) gave an overview of the newly created guidelines for website and social media activity. One guideline section of particular importance to extension faculty is how to garner website analytics to meet requirements for cooperative extension reporting. These guidelines, presented by Ann Tanaka (WY), will prove helpful for communicating impacts to administrators. Another new e-manual was developed through the “Discovering Our Nation’s Rangelands” project team. John Tanaka (WY) presented the e-manual which focuses on the elements to develop videos similar to those produced as part of the project. The manual details information including planning steps, equipment, interview questions, and video editing and production. Shared manuals and guidelines will be available through the member website. An update on the various social media accounts and communication outlets, including a monthly newsletter, were provided by Sheila Merrigan, Amber Dalke and Sarah Noelle (all AZ). One social media campaign that has been a resounding success is the Range Nerd memes that are posted each Monday through the Facebook page. The memes have proven very successful in increasing the amount of traffic coming to the RP Facebook page in terms of page views and likes. Plans were made for additional campaigns and a brainstorming session was followed by several volunteers offering to assist in future efforts, including new themed campaigns. Partners agreed to assist with developing newsletter content and content for social media outlets. The communications discussion was followed by a hands-on workshop to learn the process for data entry into the new system and how to add metadata records into the database. The morning session rounded out with concurrent work group meetings that focused on the following: 1) marketing and social media, 2) content development; institutional repositories and data mining 3) partnership sustainability, and 4) updating state-hosted websites. The groups reported back in the form of lightning reports, covering main ideas and action items. Each group plans to circulate reports and check in periodically to ensure goals are met for the year.

A special guest speaker, Mr. Glen Fukumoto, Hawaii County livestock extension agent, presented a talk during lunch, overviewing the grass-finished beef industry in Hawaii. A number of small group work sessions followed in the afternoon, focusing on developing and organizing content for website topics areas. Groups reported out and identified someone to lead the effort throughout the year. The meeting closed with a brief summary and the local hosts agreed to make additional improvements to the annual meeting arrangement guidelines.

Following the close of the two-day session, members gathered at the historic Anna Ranch in Waimea (Kamuela) for a dinner and guest presentation by Dr. Billy Bergin, retired DVM and author of “Loyal to the Land: The Legendary Parker Ranch.”

A local tour on day three (Wednesday, March 23) offered opportunities to explore local ranching and other natural resource and agricultural values on the Big Island. Tour stops included the University of Hawaii Mealani Research Station, historic Hawaii Ranches, and the Paniolo Heritage Center. Keoki Wood, VP of Livestock Operations, provided insights into Parker Ranch, a prestigious working ranch on the Big Island with both historical and cultural significance.

Accomplishments

<p><strong>Accomplishments</strong></p><br /> <p>Objective 1: The redesign of the RangelandsWest portal has been completed.&nbsp; It is now a two-part portal with the main portal being Global Rangelands (<a href="http://globalrangelands.org">http://globalrangelands.org</a>) with RangelandsWest (<a href="http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest">http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest</a>) a U.S. portal under that. Social Media has been incorporated into the design.</p><br /> <p>Objective 2: The 19 western land grant universities each have a state rangelands website linked to the RangelandsWest website. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Texas have chosen to build their websites within the framework of the Global Rangelands template.&nbsp; Nevada has used LibGuides as the framework.&nbsp; California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming have built their sites independently.</p><br /> <p>Objective 3: The global repository has been built and is maintained at the University of Arizona.&nbsp; To date it holds archived copies of the journals Rangelands and Journal of Rangeland Management produced by the Society for Range Management, The Rangelands Journal produced by the Australian Rangeland Society, rangeland articles produced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, articles produced by the Grassland Society of Southern Africa, articles abstracted in the Range Science Information System (<a href="http://rangescience.info">http://rangescience.info</a>), and articles in the Land Portal, and articles from the Altar Valley (AZ) Conservation Alliance.</p><br /> <p>Objective 4: We have continued to work at strengthening ties and collaborations among groups interested in on-line information provided to rangeland users, managers, and the general public. While in the early part of this project we were actively involved in the <a href="http://extension.org/rangelands">http://extension.org/rangelands</a> part of eXtension, towards the latter part of this project, the decision was made to move our materials to the RangelandsWest website and discontinue active participation in eXtension as a group.</p><br /> <p>In addition, for the final year of the project, the following accomplishments were achieved:</p><br /> <ul><br /> <li>Successful annual meeting of the Rangelands Partnership (March 2016, Kailua-Kona, HI). Attendees (23 on-site; 1 virtual) representing 13 U.S. states.</li><br /> <li>Major redesign of new Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and state websites. Tour of new interface presented to membership.</li><br /> <li>Progress on several grants received by different RWP partners for rangelands information projects.<br /> <ul><br /> <li>USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant (HEC) - successful maintenance and updating of Range at a Distance repository of distance accessible courses on range topics; developed Teaching Clearinghouse as a space for sharing tools and resources for range teaching professionals (no resources yet and in Beta mode); additions to Careers &amp; Education section of Rangelands West website. Analytics showing increased use.</li><br /> <li>NIFA Optimization grant to University of Arizona. Completed grant cycle and completed four objectives. (1) Established social media campaign based on user feedback involved in focus group sessions; (2) Redesigned suite of RWP websites based on user suggestions including doubling the resources available in the Global Rangelands database; (3) offered webinar on social media and linked to other relevant webinars; (4) circulated a sustainability survey to RP member institutions to gain guidance on future actions; and (5) began discussions and planning for a viable business model to fund Partnership and evolve with a new generation of members.</li><br /> <li>NIFA Renewable Resources Extension Act Grant - "Discovering Our National Rangelands" project by the University of Wyoming and the University of Arizona.<br /> <ul><br /> <li>An educational video prepared through the grant aired on <em>Out on the Land</em>, a weekly television series on RFDTV. The episode focused on ranchers and agency conservation efforts in the Thunder Basin in Wyoming <a href="http://goo.gl/VxvthU">http://goo.gl/VxvthU</a>.</li><br /> <li>Several other videos have been aired on Arizona Illustrated: Mexican Grey Wolf - <a href="http://youtu.be/Z0NGgZQJxTA">http://youtu.be/Z0NGgZQJxTA</a>, Generational Transfer&nbsp;- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MpTdmwuEhA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MpTdmwuEhA</a>, and Jaguar - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzM1-oUi8RA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzM1-oUi8RA</a>.</li><br /> <li>Video clip introductions to a variety of rangelands topics have been added to the website, and video interviews are being conducted to capture local knowledge of public and private land managers.&nbsp; In addition, a training manual on videography was drafted to assist others to develop similar videos.&nbsp;</li><br /> </ul><br /> </li><br /> </ul><br /> </li><br /> <li>Guidelines were developed for social media and websites to increase effectiveness of campaigns and provide standards for communication to support cohesive messaging.</li><br /> <li>Initiated and led the effort to create and International Year of Rangelands. Proposal has been presented to numerous groups and has not been renamed the International Year of Rangelands and Pasturelands with several activities designed to get support from other countries before it goes before the United Nations for a formal vote.</li><br /> </ul>

Publications

<p>Hutchinson, B., J. Pfander, J. Tanaka, and J. Clark. 2011. Rangelands West/Global Rangelands, eXtension Rangelands, and the Range Science Information System: a suite of new web resources. Rangelands 33(4):55-63.</p><br /> <p>Tanaka, J., B. Hutchinson, M. Fraker-Marble, R. Frost, K. Launchbaugh, and M. George. 2012. Using rangeland on the web as a teaching resource. Rangelands 34:39-40.</p><br /> <p>Hutchinson, B. and G. Ruyle. 2013. Rangeland Management at Your Finger Tips: Introducing three new websites. The Rimrock Report 6(1):1-3.</p><br /> <p>Rangelands Partnership. 2014. Global Rangelands website. <a href="http://globalrangelands.org">http://globalrangelands.org.</a></p><br /> <p>Rangelands Partnership. 2014. Rangelands West website. <a href="http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest">http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest.</a></p>

Impact Statements

1. Indicators: Social media followers and resources have increased. In 2014, the Facebook page had 145 likes which increased to 737 in 2016. In 2014, there were 49 Twitter followers which increased to 279 in 2016. The number of videos on YouTube increased from 103 in 2014 to 172 in 2016. The numbers of pins in Pinterest increased from 124 in 2015 to 164 in 2016. Instagram followers increased from 22 in 2015 to 31 in 2016. The newsletter has 108 subscribers in 2016.

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