ARDMORE, Okla. — The Oklahoma Section of the Society for Range Management had its annual meeting in Ardmore Oct. 4 and 5. About 100 land managers, producers, consultants, educators and students met to hear presentations centering around the meeting’s theme, "Rangeland — Oklahoma’s Endangered Resource?"

"Friday morning's programs covered the history of rangeland trends in Oklahoma and factors that threaten this resource, and the second part of the day focused on elements that have a positive influence on maintaining the integrity of Oklahoma’s rangelands, such as conservation easements, recreational leasing and carbon storage on grazinglands," said Matt Mattox, OK-SRM president and a forage specialist at the Noble Foundation. "And national SRM president Dr. Rod Heitschmidt gave us his perspective on SRM issues at the national level."

Foundation agricultural economist Fred Schmedt spoke on external factors that affect Oklahoma rangelands, and Foundation wildlife and fisheries specialist Mike Porter spoke about recreational leasing.

Meeting attendees traveled to the Washita Land and Cattle Company in the Arbuckle Mountains north of Ardmore on Saturday to learn about the effects of the 2000 wildfire on wildlife habitat and grazing carrying capacity, as well as hearing about Oklahoma’s prescribed burning laws.

"The Noble Foundation helped out with this meeting through financial support," Mattox said. "The Foundation forage specialists, forage discipline assistant Chan Glidewell (secretary and newsletter editor of OK-SRM), and other Foundation personnel all played important roles in making the meeting a great success," Mattox said.

The Society for Range Management is an international scientific society and conservation organization whose professional and student members are concerned with studying, conserving, managing and sustaining the varied resources of rangelands, which comprise nearly half the land in the world.

"While it is an international organization, the focus is in North America," Mattox said. "Most of the U.S.’s western states have their own sections, and states farther east are grouped together in regional sections."

Mattox added that the society administers certification for range specialists, called the "Certified Professional in Rangeland Management." Attendees at the Ardmore meeting had the opportunity to earn seven hours of continuing education units (CEUs) toward keeping their certification current.

"Most professions have a certification board — land appraisers, CPAs, and others have to maintain certification through professional organizations," he said. "For those of us at the Noble Foundation, it ensures that we’re up-to-date with the information we provide to our cooperators."

The national SRM annual meeting is set for Casper, Wyo., Feb. 2-6, 2003.

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Photo:				Cutline:
		700k jpeg		A participant checks out the Noble Foundation's publications display at the annual OK-SRM meeting in Ardmore.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release