The outlook for skilled rangeland professionals needed in the workforce over the next decade indicates a staggering demand, due largely to an aging workforce in the federal and state government where about 75% of rangeland managers are employed. College graduates will be needed to fill these shoes. A clear way to raise young people's awareness of the rangeland profession, and potentially satisfy the looming workforce need, is through the National FFA Organization which offers Career Development Events (CDEs) that connect thousands of American youth with agriculture and natural resource related subject areas. Our efforts to attract students into the rangeland profession led to creating the Western National Rangeland CDE that merges the longstanding tradition of National FFA sanctioned events with a unique field-based monitoring skill training and rangeland career exploration activities. The event spotlights many of the challenges facing rangeland managers west of the Rocky Mountains where the majority of rangeland is federally owned. Organizers from across Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming collaborate to harness the competitive spirit of CDEs while showcasing the breadth of career opportunities to young people who will be the workforce caring for rangelands into the future.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.