Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

State and agency reports were given for each state and agency with participants at the meeting. Reports focused on personnel and the educational and research programs of the states and agencies. These reports were followed by a discussion and update on assessment, inventory, and monitoring developments for rangelands. The committee then discussed getting representation from NRCS and BLM on WCC-40. Names were suggested and Jim Jacobs will contact them about participation on WCC-40. Next WCC-40 met jointly with WCC-55 to discuss the format and subject of a jointly sponsored symposium for the Society of Range Management annual meeting in 2004. WCC-40 & WCC-55 will meet jointly in 2003 to coordinate and have an initial presentation of the symposium. Members of WCC-40 & WCC-55 toured the Texas A&M Agricultural Research Centers at San Angelo and Sonora.

Select members of WCC-40 provided technical assistance in the development of the Society for Range Managements report submitted to the National Research Council on the contents of NRCs reports entitled Ecological Dynamics of Yellowstones Northern Range and Riparian Areas: Functions and Strategies for Management.

Rangeland agriculture is a high risk venture subject to considerable ecological and economic risks. Its sustainability is linked, therefore, to graziers‘ ability to manage these high levels of uncertainty over both time and space. The research proposed herein is designed to reduce levels of risk by: 1) improving our understanding of both the short- and long-term ecological consequences of climatic conditions, particularly drought, and various grazing tactics; 2) developing proactive, early warning drought management strategies; 3) screening newly developed forage germplasm for persistence, potential productivity; 4) developing improved methods for assessing forage quality; 5) determining the mechanisms responsible for differing levels of beef cattle production as a function of differing seasons of calving; and 6) identifying the economic merits of varying seasons of calving and subsequent post-weaning management strategies. In addition, a portion of this research is designed to quanitify the capacity of Northern Great Plains rangelands to sequester and store atmospheric carbon. Such information is vital for the development of sound, national, climate change related, land management policies particularly in light of the vast amounts of rangelands located in the Northern Great Plains region as well as across the United States.

Dean, T.L. 2001. Influence of grazing management and supplementation of a loose zinc sulfate fortified mineral on diet quality and gain of stocker cattle grazing native range. NMSU MS Thesis.

Grings, E.E. 2001. Phillips, W.A., Short, R.E., Mayeux, H.S. and Heitschmidt, R.K. Performance of Steer Calves Born in the Northern Great Plains in Three Seasons of Calving and Used as Stocker Cattle on Winter Wheat Pasture in the Southern Great Plains. USDA ARS.

Grings. E.E., Short, R.E., and Heitschmidt, R.K. 2001. Effects of Season of Calving and Weaning Age on Cow and Calf Production Through Weaning. USDA ARS.

Haferkamp, M.R. 2001. Annual Bromes-Good or Bad? USDA ARS.

Haferkamp, M.R. 2001. Climate Diagram-Miles City, MT. USDA ARS.

Haferkamp. M.R. 2001. Evaluation of Experimental and Released Cool-season Grass Varieties in the Northern Great Plains. USDA ARS.

Haferkamp, M.R., Heitschmidt, R.K., Grings, E.E. and MacNeil, M.D. 2001. Livestock Performance on Seeded Cool-season Forages. USDA ARS.

Haferkamp, M.R. and R.K. Heitschmidt. 2001. Measuring Carbon Fluxes over Northern Great Plains Rangelands. USDA ARS.

Haferkamkp, M.R., MacNeil, M.D., Grings, E.E., Heitschmidt, R.K., and Klement, K.D. 2001. Heifer Production on Seeded Cool-season Forages. USDA ARS.

Heitschmidt, R.K., Haferkamp, M.R., and Klement, K.D. 2001. Grazing and Drought Management. USDA ARS.

Heitschmidt, R.K., Klement, K.D., and Kruse, R.E. 2001. Drought Management-Do You Have to Run Out of forage Before You Manage? USDA ARS.

Hodgson, Q.W. 2001. Aplomado falcon habitat and rangeland characteristics in semi-desert grasslands of northern Chihuahua, Mexico. NMSU MS Thesis.

Hyder, P.W. 2001. Total phenolics, condensed tannins, and nordihydroguaiaretic acid as potential allelopathic compounds in creosotebush [Larrea tridentata (Sess. & Moc. ex DC.) Cov.] and tarbush (Flourensia cernua DC) in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. NMSU PhD Thesis.

Klement, K.D., R.K. Heitxchmidt, and C.E. Kay. 2001. Eighty Years of Vegetation and Landscape Changes in the Northern Great Plains. A Photographic Record. Conservation Research Report No. 45. USDA ARS.

Lucas, R.W. 2001. Riparian area response to different intensities of cattle grazing and different seasons of use in the black range of western New Mexico. NMSU MS Thesis.

Teaschner, T.B. 2001. Influence of soil depth and texture on mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) density and canopy cover in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico. NMSU MS Thesis.

Tshireletso, K. 2001. The effects of drought on plant response in Northern Chihuahuan Desert rangelands. NMSU MS Thesis.

Vermeire, L.T., Heitschmidt, R.K., Haferkamp, M.R. 2001. Impacts of Various Livestock Grazing Strategies on Northern Great Plains Rangelands. USDA ARS.