Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Meeting opened by Derek Bailey on November 13 at 07:30 am at the La Quinta Inn in Tucson, AZ. Derek Bailey and Mitch McClaran arranged and provided an excellent tour of ecological sites on the Santa Rita Experimental Range. Oral state reports were given for Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana at the tour's conclusion. The meeting reconvened at the La Quinta Inn at 08:00 am on November 14. The minutes of the 2007 WERA-40 minutes were read. Clayton Marlow moved and Pat Johnson seconded acceptance of minutes. New Business 2009 Meeting Location. The committee will hold the 2009 meeting in Craig County, Colorado September 17-18. Maria Fernández-Giménez will organize the tour of some of her research sites where she is assessing the accuracy of state-and-transition models with stakeholders using empirical data and local sources of knowledge. The tour will be designed to help the committee prepare a symposium on the topic. 2010 Meeting Location. The committee will hold the 2010 meeting in Idaho, with specific dates and location to be determined. The tentative plan is to organize a tour of the wildfire complex. 2010 Symposium. WERA-40 committee proposed a symposium tentatively titled "Applicability of state-and-transition models across regions." The symposium will examine the model-predicted movements between states due to use of specific tools and relate those predictions to actual outcomes. A unique emphasis will be to include examination of the common tools across regions because of past tendencies to develop models regionally and attempt to apply them universally. A tentative list of speakers was generated including Bob Patton, Pat Johnson, Dan Robinette, Steve Archer, Rick Miller, Fred Pierson, Maria Fernández-Giménez, Chad Prosser, Roger Sheley, and Dave Briske. Regions should include the Great Plains, Southern Deserts, and Great Basin. Elections. Eva Strand was nominated and unanimously elected as secretary for 2009. White Paper to SRM Advisory Council. Due to restructuring of the funding agencies, development of a white paper to influence funding from CSREES for ecological and threshold identification has been tabled. The WERA-40 committee thanks and welcomes Steve Miller for serving as our new administrative advisor. Station Reports (full reports are attached) University of Arizona reported by Larry Howery. Department is increasing the number of range majors by increasing electives. Currently, there are 19 undergraduates and 5 graduate students. There are a number of recently appointed administrators and the top current concern is the state's projected debt. Larry is currently evaluating predator effects on grazing behavior. Colorado State University reported by Maria Fernández-Giménez. Department head position search is ongoing. There are 21 undergraduate and more than 40 graduate students. Range curriculum has been revised with more electives and there is a new emphasis on remote and web-based education. There are five range faculty and one extension specialist. Range improvements and range planning courses were lost and an instructor for taxonomy is needed. Range majors are getting 100% employment. See attached report. University of Idaho reported by Eva Strand. The department has eight range faculty, including two new positions in landscape and restoration ecology, and they have added an outreach coordinator. There are 35-40 undergraduates and 10 graduate students. A new B.S. is offered in Fire Ecology & Management. See attached report. U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, ARS reported by Corey Moffet. The station has four SY in range and animal sciences, with one retirement that will not be refilled. Current rangeland research is focused on fire, post-fire grazing in sagebrush steppe, and imagery analysis. Montana State University reported by Clayton Marlow. The department has 57 undergraduate and seven graduate students and has added three courses. There have been two retirements and they are currently seeking an extension livestock environment specialist. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks currently pays for one person to teach wildlife management. Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, ARS reported by Lance Vermeire. The lab has nine animal and range scientists, four are on the Range CRIS. Range research is focused on the interactions of fire, grazing, and weeds. A new scientist was hired to focus on belowground range ecology, particularly microbial communities as they interact with previously mentioned disturbances. Mark Petersen will be Research Leader as of March 2009. See attached report. New Mexico State University reported by Derek Bailey. The department has 46 undergraduate and 11 graduate students. There are six range faculty and three extension specialists. Kirk McDaniel has retired, the position will be filled. Continued close relationship with ARS at Jornada. Virtually 100% employment for undergraduates in range. See attached report. North Dakota State University reported by Kevin Sedivec. There are 10 undergraduates and 12 graduate range majors. Introduction to Range now has 60 students; most are in the natural resources program. There are five range faculty following William Barkers retirement. Plans are to fill the vacancy. Curriculum has been updated with new range planning, wetland classification, and resource scenario courses. See attached report. South Dakota State University reported by Pat Johnson. There are four range faculty with 40-45 undergraduate and 7-8 graduate students in the department. Ranch management option has been added for a remote learning program. Currently searching for a new department head; dean and provost are also retiring soon. University of Wyoming reported by Mike Smith. John Tanaka is the new department head. There are 12 staff members teaching or advising range students (two FTE in extension), seven teaching soils, and five teaching entomology. The department has 110 undergraduate and 25 graduate students. Projects are focusing on reclamation, water, and weed problems. Quentin Skinner has retired. The department was recognized as the best in the university for grant dollars per FTE. The range program is under review for SRM accreditation. See attached report.

A symposium entitled "State-and-Transition Models: Triggers, Feedbacks and Thresholds" was held at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Society for Range Management in Louisville, Kentucky. This symposium presented recent advancements in Site and Transition Models (STMs) including the concepts of ecological resilience, triggers and feedback mechanisms that strengthen the potential for STMs to capture a broader set of relevant information for anticipating and identifying variables and conditions that drive ecosystem dynamics.