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Summary of Results

A workshop was held at the University of Arizona (UA) on March 14-16, 2002, to explore the possibility of forming a Western regional rangelands alliance to develop a comprehensive Web-based resource on current issues and knowledge related to U.S. Western rangelands. This resource would build on the UA’s six year effort in creating the Managing Rangelands web site which is part of the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) national initiative.

Twenty-two participants attended the workshop including representatives from twelve Western land grant institutions, the Policy Analysis Center for Western Public Lands (PACWPL), the Society for Range Management, and the AgNIC Coordinator from the National Agricultural Library. An ambitious agenda included presentations by all states on rangelands-related Web activities, a demonstration of a prototype regional rangelands home page, and discussions on potential organizational structure, content and metadata issues, and funding opportunities (see links below). It was unanimously decided to pursue a common agenda including the development of a regional web site and closely-linked state sites, with the UA taking the lead on initial development activities. Six participants said they would be willing to be members of a governing board, four others said they would help in defining an organizing structure, three offered to be part of a fund-raising task group, and 15 had specific content development interests. In addition, it was decided to extend an invitation of participation to other Western states including the Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alaska, and Hawaii.

The contributions to be provided by the UA will be to:

• establish a listserv for communication among all participants
• put workshop PowerPoint presentations on the web for use by all participants
• transcribe and distribute notes from the workshop
• compile a short summary of the workshop results
• create templates for each state’s interim rangelands web site
• further develop a regional home page and web site incorporating suggestions from all the participants
• appoint first governing board and assign task groups

Although a task group will be assigned to work on a final organizational structure, an outline was developed of what such a structure might be. Potentially, there will be an Executive Board/Coordinating Committee which will guide decisions made about Web site content and other issues as needed. Members of the Board would chair task groups on such areas as content development, metadata issues, organizational structure, and funding options. It would also plan annual meetings. In the beginning, the Board will be appointed by Arizona, but eventually it is expected to be an elected body. There will be a liaison designated to the AgNIC national Coordinating Committee and, alternately, a liaison will be designated from the national-level to the regional group. In addition, there will be a proposal to the Society for Range Management to include a member who will serve in an ex officio capacity. Besides the Arizona contributions listed above, the next steps are to begin the loading of quality, evaluated, and in-depth rangeland management and policy-related resources to the regional web site. The framework for the new site will be drawn from the resources available currently on the University of Arizona’s Managing Rangelands web site. The group was eager to begin the first phase of development both at the regional and state levels. The expectation is to have enough collaborative work completed that the results might be presented this coming summer (2002) at various meetings.

From Summary of Notes – Next Steps

There was general consensus throughout the meeting that this project should move forward, but where do we go from here?

For Arizona

• Summary information and transcribed notes of what was discussed and accomplished at workshop
• Periodic follow-ups – 1st one approximately 3 weeks after summary information is distributed
• Create templates for state use
• Post PowerPoint presentations and mock-up of regional site
• Develop a working model of regional site
• Set up a time frame for decisions from participating institutions
• Set up listserv to facilitate group communications

For States

• Organize material
  • “do the meta thing” – AgNIC can provide metadata support and passwords

For Workshop Group As A Whole

• Need to create Executive Board
  • how do we do this?
  • follow-up email asking who is willing to serve/be a candidate
  • should there be a liaison from Executive Board to AgNIC?
  • should Arizona appoint the first Executive Board?
  • 1-, 2-, 3-year terms staggered to rotate out (initially 1 year is too short)
  • enough structure to be organized, but not too much that creativity would be limited
  • the group needs to give 1st Executive Board a charge such as defining when elections will take place, etc.

For Subcommittees

• Identify funding sources

Workshop Notes (pdf)

Workshop Participants

University of California, Davis

• Mel George, Cooperative Extension Rangeland Specialist

Colorado State University

• John Ortmann, Assistant Professor and Extension Range Specialist

University of Idaho

• Ken Sanders, Rangeland Ecology & Management
• Lily Wai, INSIDE Idaho Project Director

Kansas State University

• Donna Schenk-Hamlin, Director, ISSA
• Mike Haddock, Agriculture Librarian

Montana State University

• Tracy Brewer, Range Management Specialist
• Jodee Kawasaki, Montana State University Libraries

University of Nevada

• Sherman Swanson, State Extension Range Specialist
• Brad Schultz, Humbolt County Extension Educator
• Amy Shannon, Head, Life and Health Sciences Library

New Mexico State University

• Tim McKimmie, Agriculture Librarian

Oregon State University

• John Tanaka, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center and Policy Analysis Center for Western Public Lands (PACWPL)
• Norman Harris, Department of Rangeland Resources
• Susan Goodson, Collection Development, Valley Library

Texas A&M University

• Wayne Hamilton (wt-hamilton@tamu.edu), Director, Center for Grazinglands & Ranch
• Management
• Deva E. Reddy, Life Sciences Librarian

Utah State University

• Roger Banner, Assoc. Professor & Extension Specialist, College of Natural Resources
• Carla Heister, Director, Quinney Natural Resources Research Library

Washington State University

• Jim Dobrowolski, Department of Natural Resource Sciences
• Cindy Kaag, Head of Science Libraries

National Agriculture Library

• Melanie Gardner, AgNIC Coordinator

University of Arizona Workshop Planning Committee

• Marianne Bracke, Science-Engineering Library
• Carla Casler, Arid Lands Information Center
• Michael Haseltine, Arid Lands Information Center
• Barbara Hutchinson, Arid Lands Information Center
• Doug Jones, Science-Engineering Library
• Sheila Merrigan, Cooperative Extension
• Cathy Miller, School of Information Resources and Library Science
• Jeanne Pfander, Science-Engineering Library
• George Ruyle, Rangeland and Forest Resources Program

Other University of Arizona Participants

• Julie L. Conley, Research Associate
• Ken Foster, Director, Office of Arid Lands Studies
• Maria Fernandez-Gimenez, Rangeland and Forest Resources Program
• Chris Kollen, Geography Librarian, Arizona Electronic Atlas Project
• Robert MacArthur, CALS Networking Coordinator
• Chestalene Pintozzi, Facilitator, University Library
• Anne Thwaits, Web Graphics Specialist
• Deborah Young, Director, Extension Programs

Non-Attending Participants

• Colorado State University: Allison Level, Assistant Professor, Morgan Library
• Kansas State University: Paul D. Ohlenbusch, Extension State Leader & Extension Specialist Grazing Land Management
• New Mexico State University: Chris Allison, Range Extension Specialist
• Oregon State University: Mike Borman, Range Extension Specialist
• University of California, Davis: Bill Frost, Natural Resources Program Director
• University of Idaho: Karen Hertel, Reference Librarian
• University of Wyoming: Jeff Powell, Professor, Range Science & Watershed Management, Wyoming Agricultural
• Experiment Station
• Washington State University: Pete Jacoby, Associate Dean